OK Ill type very slowly so the Boston area small LIEberal brains can comprehend.
Im sure the library had sent numerous notices about the overdue book, that the parents just ignored (see the girl was only 5 so the parents are responsible & are the ones on the contact list) The story mention some FACTS (I know you LIEberals don’t like FACTS) that the books were several months overdue & the library had sent several notices & bills BUT of course the parents claimed they never received them. Having worked in a library while in college myself this was always the case UNTIL they got the collection notice for several hundred dollars all the late notices etc are ignored & never get returned by PO BUT they do get the collection notice & like the parents here all of a sudden “find” the missing books.
The same thing if you rent a video (like in the old days) or if you rent a piece of equipment from the local hardware store & never return it the company has to protect its investment

Say it ain’t so, “avgjoe”. Fact of the matter is that, while the library MAY have actually sent the notices, that does not mean that the parents received them OR that they even knew the kid HAD any library books. In Oklahoma we just pay for the book if it isn’t returned and/or get a hold put on your card and stop checking out books till you clear the fines. Sending the cops to a kid’s house to scare the snot out of them is clearly beyond reasonable.

“In Oklahoma we just pay for the book if it isn’t returned and/or get a hold put on your card and stop checking out books till you clear the fines. Sending the cops to a kid’s house to scare the snot out of them is clearly beyond reasonable.”

I was a librarian at a public library in Oklahoma for six years. This is not exactly how things work. If the book is not returned, several, and I mean several overdue notices are sent out. They’re mailed. If they have a phone number on record, they’re also called. After a few months, if the book isn’t returned, then it goes to “Lost” status, which is just a nice way of saying that the person who checked it out decided not to return it, which is another nice way of saying they stole it. Once it’s at a lost status, the patron is required to pay the full cost of the book and a hold is placed on their library card until they’ve done so. In this case, apparently the family had several lost items, several late, and a serious fine as a result. Trust me, they would have been notified. If the police stopped by their house, then the library obviously had their address somehow and they would of contacted them to report the fine.

I wish we did have a policy at our library requiring law enforcement to show up at the house and ask for the materials back, because you have no idea how many books and subsequently how much money is “lost” each year because people decide they can just keep a library item and ignore our requests to return it. You see, a public library is supported by city/county taxes. You know how you pay city/county taxes? When someone doesn’t return a library book, you and the rest of our tax payers are the ones who essential pay for it.
Although public libraries differ around the U.S., this particular practice involving fines/lost items is pretty standard (except for the calling the cops part, I only know a handful of those).

This article seems focused on twisting things so it sounds like the library blamed the child. Dude, she’s five. She has no idea. Plus, it wasn’t just one book that she had, the whole family had fines and items out. Is the mom setting a bad example? Sure. Does this deserve the attention of the authorities? When the fine is this much, sure. Do we really need to get social workers involved? I doubt it. I’ve had a couple of “lost” library items in my time too. The difference is I wasn’t afraid to fess up and pay up. Most people aren’t. Perhaps this family is seriously struggling financially. Perhaps the mom knew she was in the wrong but was too ashamed to fess up to the library because she had totally let things get out of hand. I can totally understand that happening. My sympathy goes to both parties here, especially since the article is leaving out obvious details.

If you ever find yourself in such a predicament involving library fines, please, go and talk to your librarian. We’re not unreasonable people, especially when we know you had good intentions and that you’re not maliciously taking our materials on purpose. In most libraries you can pay your fines off in small increments. We’ll work with you, just talk to us. The key is to tell us before we send everything to a collection agency. At that point, it’s out of our hands. We don’t send it to the collection agency to be mean, we send it because we struggle with money too and if we don’t get the money back then we have to use our budget to replace material as opposed to buying new stuff, or perhaps even request more money from the city, thereby….raising your taxes. LTCB, you strike me as someone who doesn’t like to have their taxes raised for any reason, so perhaps from this perspective, you can understand why a library resorted to such drastic measures. We don’t usually like to piss off right wingers. They tend to give us enough trouble already. :-)

@avgjoe The perfect example of the modern day well conditioned stooge of the Big Brother POlice State. Not only is he/she to dumb to realize whats going on but they are all so well trained (by hundreads of hours watching the Boob tube) that they speak up in defense of the police state goons.

This is NOT the job of the police or any other law enforcement and is a gross abuse of the police powers. Both the library worker who called the police and the Sergent who agreed to send out an officer shoudl be put on leave without pay if not out right fired.

Tax money pays for those books. The woman should be ashamed for nto returning her daughter’s books. And the idea that they came after the “little girl” is idiotic. Her mother is responsible for her and her books and her library dues. Not the little girl. Nice attempt of them to make it much more dramatic, though.

On the other hand, I’m not sure why the police would get involved. What happens when you don’t return books to the library is that they send you notices and EVENTUALLY SEND YOUR ACCOUNT TO A COLLECTION AGENCY. Then it becomes the collection agency’s problem.

Do we know tax money paid for that book? Where I grew up libraries always had drives to donate your old books and for people to donate money. If this is the norm for people that forget to return books I will no longer donate books.

I think it is people like you who needs to be ashamed. Yes, tax money does pay for some of those books, the rest are paid for by donations. Nonetheless, the library and the police should both be ashamed. The police chief should have had a chat with the library and told them that they are over-reacting and they should just deal with it themselves. To involve the police for 2 children’s books is rediculous.

Yeah yer right…send a cop @ $100 per hour (car, bennies, salary, insurances, ancillary associated support…) to collect a $5 fee on a $10 book. And Mass is crashing into the wall because….

BTW, The police were not allowed to enforce existing laws broken by OWS. Did the govner issue a list of laws that must be obeyed and laws that can be broken yet? If not, how is this little girl to know what laws to follow and what laws you can ignore?!?!

and I imagine she has paid plenty in taxes to have paid for numerous copies of the book. Some 47%ter probably wanted it. 47% is the percentage of people who don’t pay taxes and yes I know its a fed number. Hard working peoples money paid for those books in the form of taxes !!!!!

“Nice attempt to make it much more dramatic….” Exactly how could the library made this more dramatic? Perhaps they should’ve made the mother or daughter take the perp walk to the cruiser in handcuffs? What kind of moron would condone the actions of the library and police? This is how the Nazi’s got started, and for people to allow the police in their community to be used this way, without an uproar is a stain on the entire community. At the minimum, the police chief should resign. Let’s face it folks, do you want a chief of police in your town who make such idiotic decisions, to be in charge of your town, especially if an emergency arises.

Do you have any idea how many books libraries in the US burn or destroy every year becuse they have no room for them? Millions. They destroy valuable first edition books simply becuse they can’t take the time to sort them out. If you want a to keep a better eye on your tax dollars watch the library not the patrons.

This is the same in Goodyear, Arizona. A man was arrested for speaking to a fire chief without an appointment. Judge Gerald Williams found him guilty for disorderly conduct due to speaking and pointing a finger. Video didn’t show the guy there. Full police force came to his house and arrested him including threats to ‘grab and drag him from his home’. Glad he didn’t have a library book too.

Small town cops often have loads of free time that would otherwise be spent hanging out at the fire station or sitting at the local diner. No harm in putting them to work. The officer’s salary is already being paid for, so this errand didn’t cost anything extra.

I can tell you from experience, small town MA cops are the new SS.
Was riding my bike and a cop pulled me over to make sure I had a proper light.
They drive around checking license plate numbers for any prior infraction, even if the car is not doing anything illegal.

Pete, you are right on. When I was a small town cop, (1 per shift) we did all sorts of innocuous stuff because there was no one else to do it and we were the only resource that our little town pop 2000 had.

I agree. The news has the way of making police doing their job a bad thing. I’d rather have my tax dollars going to police who are in touch with the community than police who have to chase home invaders and drug dealers. They’re lucky to be living in a community where the biggest problem for the police is this.

People want to be protected and served well this is part of serving. Love it or leave it.

Nail on the head! And lets get something sytraight. The 5 year old didn’t borrow the books, the mother did. The article did mention how many time the librabry tried contacting her to get the books back. I am sute that sending the cops was the last resort. Think about people, really……

Paddy maybe you shouldn’t call people stupid when if you had read the article or watched the pretty video they even made so you could just sit back and watch, you would have known that the library went and got the cops involved. The library did the same thing that someone else would do if something was taken from them and not returned

You got it! Yes, they ARE completely stupid. If the police in this country stoop to doing stupid shi! like this, then they might do anything. I agree with the person commenting that they have too many police officers on their staff and need to eliminate some to reduce their budget and let little girls have a few more FUC#ING days to return a children’s book!!

They would have to get involved eventually. How the hell do you collect money from someone who won’t pay? A collections agency? They have NO actual power. You tell them “cease & desist” and they can never contact you again. So then the only way to collect is lawsuit.

Now you tell me which way of getting the fees back cost less taxpayer money – 10 minutes of a cop’s time when he was probably just sitting there eating a donut, or paying for a judge, lawyer, stenographer, bailiff, and courtroom?

Dollars to Tic Tacs there’s more to the story, Dave. Either the mother ignored numerous notices and, more than likely, several courtesy phone calls (or got a bit testy about a “reminder call” and responded rudely or hung up the phone), OR there’s a personal issue between a family member and a library staffer.

In any event, Mommy Dearest is setting a very bad example for her five-year-old daughter by ignoring her commitment to return the books. Library loans are conducted on the Honor System, which does require a bit of honor from borrowers as well as the lender.

Well I guess all of us moms that have ever forgot to return a book should go to jail and leave our poor little ones at home or with social services. Most libraries are very understanding about books that are returned late or even lost. but yep yur right this mom needs to be locked up and given parenting classes about how to return a book on time. you either are a moron or have never had kids.

I can’t believe that in this day and age that we don’t simply beat the bannanas out of them and place these evil people in concentration camps. I am really sick of the liberal niceties that this society allows average citizens and so glad that the NDAA has finally been signed! Now we can finally have Stalinst purges for anyone who can’t remember to return a library book. Age is no excuse!
In fact, they should pull everyone out of their houses on the block and execute them all just for knowing these evildoers. It worked so well in Germany!

Dave, there is a lot more to the story than this station reported, as usual. Why do people believe everything they see on TV? That’s something to be ashamed of. The father of this little girl owes over $100 to this library. He checked out material over 2 YEARS AGO. He was sent numerous notices and courtesy calls, of which he ignored all. Then, the parents took out a card in their daughter’s name because they had accrued too much money to use their own cards. So, the officer was in no way sent to arrest the little girl. How idiotic! This man has stolen town property. Very little of the material in libraries is donated, contrary to popular belief. It comes from TOWN and state monies. Librarians are the guardians of this material; ALL residents have the right to use it, not just a few irresponsible patrons. He has no respect for the property of others. And when even a few people take advantage of their right to borrow material from any library, they cost taxpayers a lot of money. Look up your laws. He could be arrested for this. But Charlton Library apparently decided that enough was enough, and in these fiscal times, they want their items returned or replaced. They are owed $4000.00 in material that has never been returned!! Don’t jump to conclusions because a television news station loves to create headlines that will lure you to watch their broadcast. WBZ should do better “investigative” reporting, and you should get a life!

100% agree. Sensationalism aimed at ratings…nothing more. Twist the story by including, or not including, details based on which audience you want to get to react. People are stupid sheep and believe everything they read on the internet or see on TV.

$4000 for two children’s books?? That is just plain ridiculous…! Its just waaay over the top to send police for something insignificant like that. Obviously there is nothing much important for the police to do than to bother folks about ‘green eggs and ham’.

Libraries, like all other entites, cannot contract with a minor (i.e.issue a library card) without consent of a parent or guardian of legal age. If, in fact, the parents owed them that much money, they could have refused the child a card, and prevented this in the first place.

I remember going to all the Friends of the Library book sales where they try to sell the tens of thousands of books donated to the Library that were duplicates… for a dollar or two per book… This happened twice a year… I asked what they did with the books that weren’t sold, or books that were duplicates of the duplicates, and they said they threw them in the dumpster recycling… I dumpster dived hundreds of text books & children’s to build the library of a free school across the street from the library… eventually they noticed, and padlocked the dumpster so I couldn’t “steal” children’s books from “their” dumpster…. Where were the cops and Librarians when I pleaded with them to donate the books destined for the shredder to our Library instead…? They said that the lawyers and politicians passed a law saying that they legally can’t “share” books with other libraries or the public, because it would interfere with market forces… how’s that for “stolen” property..?

Agreed. But the obvious question, aside from that obvious truth, is why didn’t the mom just have the daughter return the books? Just because the library over-reacted, it doesn’t absolve mommy of responsibility.

Basically, the kid learns that if you fail to return something that is borrowed, just paste your wrist to your forehead like some histrionic dirt-bag and indulge your fever-dreams of a police state. The root cause is immaterial when you’re perpetually hard done-by, nice lesson.

Charleton MA must be a REEEEELLY small town that they don’t have TELEPHONES! Why didn’t the librarian or the police call the parents of the little girl and tell them to return the BORROWED books to the library, and pay the fine. Frightening a little 5 year old girl over something as trivial as two overdue library books is mean and wrong headed. Go make that police officer direct traffic as punishment, and make the librarian read the stacks to make sure that the books are in order.

The library has called them, sent letters to there house, and even write emails to them. The parents r to damn lazy to go and look for the books. The parents r not showing theyre childeren to b responsible. So for them to say they didnt recieve any thing is bull crap. People think they can keep checking books out of the library and not return them how irresponsible is that. Thats how they teach the kids nice!!

The cops are called pigs for a reason. They should be embarassed at this. Complete and total utter idiots and bullies. No kidding the money wasted on this could have replaced the books. The girl holds onto books. She likes to read. That is a good sign. Utter and total dirtbag cops and librarian. The librarian’s job should disappear and be replaced by 7 different people. They all do the job on an as needed basis. Should prevent another idiots display of power abuse.

The parents r to lazy to look for the kids books. how irresponsible on theyre part they should teach the kid how to b responsibe, and it wasnt just the kid the father also had fines right along w/ it. Theyre is 2 parts to a story so the news needs to get theyre facts straight. Theyre stealing from a library!!

Sure, Dave, they have lots better to do. Scoffing at “the rules” though, has become an epidemic in the United States. Your attitude reflects that degrading. I’d take money that you text while driving, too.

This could have been a great teaching time for the parents. They could have explained about taking responsibility for ones actions and understandin that thir are consiquences to actions. Instead what did you here from the mom, its not our fault..

This is a prime example of what is wrong with our society! People, need to quit making excuses for poor behavior.. We need to get back to taking personal responsibilty for our and our childrens actions and not to expect to be cottled like a bunch of babies. I am a single parent and had that happened to me I would have had my appologized to the policeman for taking him away from catching real criminals and then used it as a teaching moment..

They should have just sent Mr. Bookman from the Seinfeld episode when Jerry had an overdue book from high school. I’m sure somewhere in the government bureaucracy a Mr. Bookman exists, and he could have lamented all the wee-wee’s and pee-pee’s that people draw in library books, and chastised the 5-year-old for “making the scene.”

No one would suspect the family likely owes hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for stolen and damaged books/movies. Dave, that’s your tax money lost — to deadbeat thieves who cry when they’re confronted.

Dave, you’re wrong. Our tax money is being stolen by deadbeats who steal and/or destroy public property and then deny, deny. Nice try with the photo of the cute little tot reading a book with mommy, though. Families in my district (I work at a public library) have owed as much as $3800 – when one person’s card is revoked, they rack up charges on another family member’s card. Are you okay with people stealing $3800 from you?

Dear WBZ Reporter: Mabye you should do your job better and find out how much the Benoit family owed in fines? Shoddy reporting, and shame on you if you did have that info and left if out of your story.

Sadi, you are the one creating drama. Telling “Tara” she needs parenting classes because she pretty much thinks this whole thing is nonsense? (As do I) Really???? Judging people you know nothing about. Nice.

The parents should b ashamed for teaching there kids to b irresponsible, they get sent letter, calls to there homes, and emails saying they have books that need to b returned. Its not ok to b checking out books and not returning them. Those parents were just to damn lazy to look for there childs books,

Sgt. Dowd, I don’t use the word “hero” lightly but you are the greatest hero in American history. If it were not for brave men like you putting your life at risk every day by taking down dangerous criminals like this 5 year old, our American society would crumble in no time.

I’m a flaming liberal, but sorry, this is the most tax-efficient way to do it.

Someone wrote to me: “I saw this on FB and really, WTF. Why don’t libraries just use collections agencies like everybody else? Send notices when books are late. If they aren’t returned in X days, send a notice that it’s going to collections and send it to collections. Looking past the absurdity of the situation, sending a police officer to someone’s house to collect library books is a complete waste of tax dollars.”

To which I respond:

“The library must have already sent notice; they wouldn’t call the cops first unless this is actually a personal issue between some friend-of-cop librarian and this mother. (Possible, but it is the less likely explanation)
So most likely, this is a real overdue book that they have made an effort to get back. (Been there, done that, paid my whole-book-cost fees before years late.)

The problem with that is a collection agency has no power – you tell them to cease and desist on the first call and that’s all they can ever do and you will never hear from them again (been there, done that, 800+ credit rating still). But then they charge you for their services, of course. And that’s not already a budgeted salary, so that’s more taxpayer money out. And less budget for the library that needs it.

So the only next step would be a lawsuit to get an enforced judgment. Lawyer + judges + bailiff + courtroom + stenographer + server for the subpoena is going to cost way way way way more taxpayer money than 10 minutes of a cop’s time that is already budgeted.

Cops have slow days and sometimes don’t have much to do – I’ve seen them sleep in their cars at the school ‘cross the street – so it’s just as much of a a waste of taxpayer money to have them do nothing as well.

The part I find funny is that a cop simply telling a 5 year old that something is wrong causes the 5 year old to cry, that little children already know to fear the scary men. It’s a good lesson to learn; I think this child will grow up and not be one of these cop apologists, which is good.”

One police officer ringing the bell and asking a few questions about an overdue (by several months) book doesn’t sound all that frightening to me. The book was found and the case was resolved. There was no violence or any threat thereof. It sounds like what, we are told, citizen-police interaction used to be like – the “friendly policeman” and all that. It’s just that, because of what has happened elsewhere, Americans, including five-year-old girls, now have reason to fear the police, and so what actually was a non-threatening event was perceived as threatening. That’s one more negative consequence of the armed SWAT-team raids and general militarization of the police that has been occurring across the U.S. Luckily, what happened here did NOT involve anything of the sort. I hope we can return to being a country where a visit by one local cop will not be a frightening event.

I am a children’s librarian. I’ve worked in libraries for 20 years and the problem of people not returning checked out books and materials has escalated significantly. We loose many thousands of dollars a year in non-returned and damaged materials–new materials purchased with tax payers money not old donated items. DVDs get stolen daily (because if you don’t return it you are stealing). And many claim they never receive notices (even though we sent out many by mail, phone or email–patron’s choice) or did not see damage (like a dvd broken in half and put back in the case or soaking wet books put in the bookdrop). I work in a big city and our library has never had law enforcement to assist in getting back items. I can only wish we could. Now, I do not think two books lost is a serious enough offense to send police to someone’s home. We have people loose 20 without any repercussions but not being able to use the library. Those are the ones that could use a visit from the police. Few parents want to teach responsibility these days. It is a real shame.

WBZ did one of two things in this case. Either they did a lousy job of investigative reporting or they reported only the part of the story that they knew would generate controversy, which it obviously has. Read the article that was in the Worcester Telegramhttp://telegram.com/article/20120104/NEWS/101049937

The visit by the police was not to this house only and it was not primarily to address the return of the 5 year old’s overdue books. It was to address the father’s audio book that had been overdue since April of 2009. The police had a list of 13 families to visit that owed a total of $2,634 of which the Benoits owed $130. This has nothing to do with a “police state” or an attempt to harass a 5 year old. It has to do with irresponsible people who entered into a contract with a government agency, violated the terms of that contract and as a result are reaping the rewards of their actions. Period.

this is crazy. the mom should be ashamed of herself. she drove the child to get the book, well, dam,,she should know it is her responsibilty to return the book. show your child some responsibilities to others. so the mom should feel like a heel for doing this to her child. also, i know the officer, and i am sure this is the last thing on his list of things to do. MOTHER,, WELL, NO BRAINS, OR PARENTING SKILLS

The mother should b ashamed, it like they were stealing from the library they sent notices plus phone calls and emails, she needs to teach her kids whats right from wrong and explain to her daughter what happened the father was the 1 who had a book on cds out on his daghters card which was a little over $100. She should tell her daughter this is what happens when ur not responsible. from all people u should know how it works, When they get a card the have to sign a paper to have that card and it explains to u about everything!!

This is the level of intelligence that is in our country. I honestly believe that these people have gone absolutely crazy. Whoever works at that library is just “STUCK ON STUPID” They need to be replaced with someone who is intelligent!!

I think the people who didn’t care about a return date should be ashamed. Keeping a book that doesn’t belong to you is the same as stealing. I think a friendly reminder was kinder then a summons to appear in court. The child is not responsible for returning the books, the parents were. I always made sure my children returned their books back to the library on time. I can’t understand people getting upset when they are in the wrong.

Willow, you sound like a self righteous woman blind to your many faults and sins. Come on now! You are the kind of person who would lock up jay walkers and may I be so bold as to say the the 8th Amendment to protect against people such as yourself while you think it good to have the police show up for overdue library books. Let me say this is cruel and unusual punishment to have the police show up for something so insignificant. She should be fined her .05 cents a day per book and that’s it!

By what possible definition of the word was she punished, let alone in a cruel or unusual way? Being called on a personal failure is now punishment?

Let’s take the counter argument: keeping a book that doesn’t belong to you ISN’T the same as stealing? That would require some redefinitions. A friendly reminder ISN’T kinder than a summons to appear in court? The child IS responsible? People SHOULDN’T instill in their children any lessons about returning what they’ve been loaned?

I can certainly see disagreeing on whether this was the right response or not… but projecting that Willow is “self-righteous” and “blind to her many faults and sins” based on simply stating common sense positions (unless you really hold the ridiculous counter positions, of course).

I’m not from the area, don’t know anybody involved, but the tone on this one just really pushed my buttons. What arrogance. What silliness.

Phil, nice quote from the Consititution, but not relevant. Books are borrowed from a public library to share knowledge. Small town libraries have very small budgets, and don’t have personnel to knock on doors. Using the local PD is an option.

The mom is trying to play the victim. Sorry. How about the other kids in town who have been denied the book because it wasn’t returned on time?

Phil, Willow is absolutely right and nothing in her comment shows her as being self-righteous. It’s people like you who support people who don’t hold to their agreement. The mother, in effect, agreed that when the books were taken out, they would be returned by a certain date. Several months later, the books still had not been returned, and you apparently see no fault in this. If it was you who had loaned the books to somebody else, I’ll bet you would be outraged. You need to stop bullying people who do right.

You’re right, she does seem pretty self righteous. It was an honest mistake. I forgot to return a few library books when I was a kid. When I returned them no one complained. They simply told me what the fine was so I reached into my pocket for my allowance and paid most of the fine. Then I went back after I got my allowance the following week and paid the rest off.

No one called the cops. No one freaked out, and no one had a holier than thou attitude.

Amen, we would be reading the same outraged comments if they had sent a summons rather than having a policeman stop by to give a friendly reminder. I could see the headline, “Charlton library sues five year old girl over 2 books valued $4, costing tax payers thousands.” As to the girl’s reaction, I bet she cried either due to her mom’s overboard reaction or due to being taught to mistrust police; either way it’s sad that this is even an issue people would have a problem with.

Bottom line is that the library doesn’t have resources to hire someone to go door to door collecting books. A policeman dropping by (who presumably patrols in that area anyway) is a lot more fiscally responsible than filing a summons.

Have you ever considered a simple phone call! One could politely say, “I just a rerminder that the 2 books checked out XX-XX-2011 have not yet been returned”. It would be much cheaper than sending a police officer! A phone call was evidently made to the police so the resources are there to make a call to the parent instead! I can’t believe that those being so self-righteous here have never had a library book returned late!

maggielyn do you really think they the library didn’t make any attempts to call or write these people? because if you do I have a nice ketchup Popsicle that is delicious that i would love to sell you. In the video it even states that the books are months over do and that they were going after people that they couldn’t get a hold of through letters and calls

That’s a complete non-sequitur. The point is: when do you involve the police? People do stuff wrong all the time. People borrow things and don’t return them. People violate contracts. People spread rumors about people.

These are CIVIL matters – not criminal ones. Doing something wrong isn’t an automatic ticket to use the police. Taxpayers have a right to be outraged for using their money inappropriately.

It clearly says in the story that in this town not returning your library books after a certain amount of time is a misdeameanor crime. They sent a cop to ask, instead of sending a court summons (which is technically a non-custodial arrest). Does anyone really think the library didn’t send ANY other type of reminder and jumped straight to the cops. Oh, I know, she said she didn’t receive anything, but seriously? I guess next time they should just arrest the mom… you know, since sending someone to ask for the books back is just soooo attrocious.

The books were part of the collection maintained by a public library, right? Therefore, they were public property. This makes their retention by the girl a criminal matter, not a civil matter. Contract law is irrelevant, as is any body of law related to the spreading of rumors.

And if it’s not a civil matter? Some states make keeping library books that are overdue past a certain point a misdemeanor, which is a criminal law matter, not civil. Note the second-to-last sentence of the article.

I totally agree with you. Then you read all the absurd comments where people want the CPS called. WTF?! This mother takes time to encourage literature in her childs life, I think that is more important than the fact the books were late. What A HORRIBLE PARENT!!! Lets inolve the state in every tiny fractional part of our lives. God knows the pulic has no business making their own choices and decisions. The slave mentality is disgusting. Lets just plop the kids in front of the idiot box, and stay away from libraries.

I don’t know about YOUR local library, Mike, but most libraries are working with a skeleton staff as it is. Why should they have to go to the home anyway….libraries send notices through the mail. Sure, she CLAIMS she didn’t receive any notices, but let’s be serious, here. All she had to do was take the stupid books back so someone else would be able to use them if they wanted. SHE knew when the books were due back, and I’m not talking about the little girl. The mother should step up to the plate and acknowledge that she “forgot” about them or was just too damned lazy to make the trip back to the library. What a sad state of affairs when folks won’t accept responsibility for their actions, and try to twist the story.

Thanks for the post. Great website, been there often. Why is it that so many people are asleep? Why won’t they wake up? The reality that most people think they know couldn’t be farther from the truth of what really is. Are they afraid? Are they part of the plan? This has been planned for a very long time; the NWO that is. I am starving for truth and that is all I search for anymore. Once you understand some truth, NOTHING but the truth will do!

Filthy criminals think they just keep a borrowed book for days on end. The answer to this is clearly sending a man with a gun to issue a “friendly reminder.” And if that doesn’t work … taser the hell outta them.

That’s as uncalled for as the cops showing up. Come on, there are two excellent lessons to be learned here, stick to your agreements (eg return books) AND America is turning into a police state slowly since the “war on drugs” and quickly since 911. Oh and a third lesson, divide and conquer always works because we are so easily turned against each other. Be nice to your fellow man.

Correct! “Benoit’s insist they never got any warnings.” What about 1- knowing the due date when they borrowed the books in the first place, 2- The library usually gives a receipt, 3- Libraries rely on personal honesty & integrity. 4- Parental responsibility, and 5- I usually set a reminder on my cell phone calendar – an alarm rings when a book is due. 6- Why would the mom make such an excuse? She was clearly in the wrong.

email, a $.49 stamp plus paper & envelope, or phone call… are all cheaper and less gestapo-ish than sending a police officer to the door.
Tell me, what lazy arse library employee couldn’t put their finger to dial the household instead of the police department? Where they to busy downloading porn on the library computers?!

I think it’s possible the books were put away and forgotten about. I also wonder if the police are being sent to every patron who had an overdue book at the library? This may bite the library in the behind later when they appeal to the community to help keep their funding up to keep open. There are so many ways to get reading materials into the hands of a child and this seems a little bit of an overreaction. I would be afraid to check a book out of that place,,what if I misplace it or lose it? I don’t need my children frightened by a policeman at the door for an overdue book. That seems a little over the top. Maybe the local paper can publish the names of the patrons who have overdue library materials,…?

This is ridiculous. The number of comments here justifying what the mother did and what she has now passed on to her child as a life lesson are amazing. The library books are overdue. Everyone in the town is entitled to borrow those books. And yet the mother felt it was justifiable for her daughter to simply ignore the rules and keep the books. Coupled with the mentality that you bash police no matter what the cause, I can understand the comments. I simply do not understand the mindset. I absolutely agree with Willow and Frank and others who have said the same thing

I’m all for this concerning the adult accounts, but for a 5yr old? The police arrive asking about the books on the little girl’s account. She is in tears thinking she is going to get arrested. It is not her fault she was born with irresponsible parents…

Good work? A 5yr old now has a fear of police, libraries, and probably books… Ya, a real win there…

They work, and work hard! Not only do they “shuffle books” they have to put up with members of the public and their children-most of whom are self absorbed adn ignorant, as your comment clearly demonstrates. Librarians are underpaid and are being expected to pick up the extra work that used to be done by co-workers who have been laid off.

Police departments all over this country should be doing one thing right now: getting cell phone users and texters off the roads. Leave these people alone; they pose a threat to no one and nothing except their own pocketbooks.

I agree with Willow. It was the parents responsibility to return the books and I am sure the Library did send notices which the mother ignored. The mother should be the one ashamed for putting her daughter through this.

Thjen take it one step further: when the book still is overdue, send in the SWAT team. Just where is it reasonable to draw the line? With police assets being stretched to the limit, it is an abuse of taxpayers’ money to have had this happen.
The Librarian has a phone. It is in her perview to call in the books, not the police. Please, use some common sense.

That would require 44 cents for a stamp, it’s better to waste manhours of police to frighten and reinforce government slave training at an early age on the child.
After all it isn’t enough that potbellies can feel up kids at airports, it’s to show the kids they are just property and a government ‘authority’ figure can do what they please with them at any time, and like Santa they are always watching.
It’s so very loving.

You are an ignorant fool. If you bothered to read Bob, the police were called to do this by the LIBRARY. The police officer was sent to let the parents know, not the 5 year old. The story is blown out of proportion by the mother who placed the blame on her daughter instead of herself, the responsible party. I’m not saying that the police was needed, but that’s not up to the officer.

Police officers are paid regardless of where they are, so there is no money wasted. Charlton isn’t a crime ridden community. The police officer was most likely taken away from writing tickets. If there had been a case or an emergency that that would have taken priority. Since you are not an officer (nor know one obviously), you are just another ignorant civilian who knows nothing of how the department runs.

Shut up and get off the computer. Maybe read a book. Then come back with something intelligent to say.

Ignorant fool am I? I’m not the librarian who thought it appropriate to call the cops on a 5-year-old, nor am I the cop that didn’t use his judgment to tell the librarian that it wasn’t a police matter.

This so called police officer is about as useless as you teachers. Need to fire all of you and find someone who has common sense. Which apparently you do not have.

If you saw a young child being scared to death by a bully, irregardless of what she or he may have done, it would be your job under the so called bully law to stop it, I suggest that cop acted like a bully and probably scared the child and caused her much grief for many days. He should be fired. Had I been that parent I would have slammed the dam door in his face and ordered him off my property and called my attorney to take action immediately. This is not a dictatorship country yet although it is working its way up to it with these types of actions. This type of cop is a real disgrace to the whole country.

Teacher…please. You might be able to be condescending in your small little hick town but here on the World Wide Wide other professional, educated people gather to discuss ideas and what I am sure you would call the norms of society (although if this is normal I am not sure I would want to live in this community). The facts are that the police were sent to the home of a 5 year old for overdue books. I could care less if they went there to see the mother, father, or the ghost of the great-grandparents. They sent the police to the home of someone who had overdue books, not to the home of someone who has not paid their taxes in 20 years! This is not normal! If it is where you come from, there is nothing wrong with the rest of the country, what is wrong is coming from your own back yard. If a local library is going to have free reign on what they use the police department for, the town needs to think about if they need a police force as large as they have.

So maybe before you go flying off the handle at someone who takes a differing opinion on something than yourself, maybe try to visualize, in this case anyway, the police coming to your door because you forgot to turn in some books to the library. And by the way, I have read many books and wrote two of my own, so your condescending rhetoric, if there is any left after throwing it at the last individual, will just be laughed at.

Having considered this further, I think we need to investigate your employment in the teaching profession. If you cannot see the obvious that every other normal person can, it is probably not the best to have you teaching children. Can we please have your name and the name of your district, I’d like to discuss your judgment with your supervisor.

As a retired educator I respectfully ask you to either change your name “Teacher” or show more respect for yourself and others through your chosen language. Otherwise, even if you’re ‘right”… you’re wrong.

Well said, teacher. teaching respect for the law. Police deal with trivial matters all of the time; trivial in isolation,that is. If each was allowed to slide because dealing with it would cost too much etc. the quality of life would rapidly deteriorate.

obviously it worked because after months of not taking the books back, they finally found the time to do what was right. Maybe the Mom learned something too. that she needs to teach her daughter to return overdue books.

Yes, they got the books back and probably have alienated a few in the community who won’t use the library again and when the library needs funding from the community in the future, there possibly are a few more people who will say “no.” It just doesn’t seem worth it. I suppose if these were really expensive books it could possibly be justified,,but if we’re talking about children’s books, ,,it seems a bit much.

Responsibility, something people today know nothing about. A friendly visit from the police is much better than a day in court. Get the bad behavior under control early, that way they don’t end up in criminal court later.

Any visit of a cop to your house in this day and age can not always be construed as ‘friendly’ and is more likely to scare the bejesus out of small children.
We used to know who our police officers were, and they us, back in the day.
It has all changed, and not for the better.

I don’t need a clear cause and affect. The lack of respect for the law displayed by todays youth speaks clearly. OWS vermin should tell you everything you need to know. My property will be defended with extreme and deadly force. There will be no questions asked before bullets fly.

I’d question whether the due date was actually forgotten or if in fact the books were misplaced for a time. As a child I often borrowed dozens of books at a time and invariably would lose a few for a time (not permanently, just misplaced, say at the bottom of the closet under the toy box) and it sometimes took a good while to locate the books. With fine amounts what they were if I didn’t get the book back this week, I’d get it back the next. Sometimes that meant the books were considerably overdue.

We do not have all the facts, but certainly, public property or not, police services were not needed for two children’s books whose replacement value, even at library edition costs, was way south of $50.00. The use of law enforcement in this instance demonstrated lack of judgment on the part of the library management and the Chief of Police. Contrary to what some people believe, the head of a police department DOES have the right to refuse to under take many tasks, even if an honest to goodness crime has been committed. If there is no obligation for police to investigate a murder, look it up there isn’t, then there is no obligation for the police to do the bidding of the library manager either. That was a waste of tax payer funds.

Library should have sued in small claims for the cost to replace and then utilized the State’s tax refund intercept program to obtain the judgment if they won e case and the borrower refused to pay. Sending the police gets bad publicity and keeps people from supporting the library in the future. Suing is how civil matters get resolved and unless the library was stupid enough to actually name a child, such a lawsuit would probably not even make a ripple.

You hold 5 year olds to quite a high standard. I’m sure you child was driving by 4 and filing their taxes for allowance earned by age 6.

“The lack of respect for the law displayed by todays youth speaks clearly. OWS vermin should tell you everything you need to know. My property will be defended with extreme and deadly force. There will be no questions asked before bullets fly.”

This is utterly intelligible to me and has nothing do with the topic. Further, there is a clear distinction between “todays youth” and the occupy movement.

Maybe you should refrain from your ignorant responses. You can decide to keep hiding for the rest of your life. There is right and wrong. You decide which side you want to be on, but be ready to own the results of your decisions.

“My property will be defended with extreme and deadly force.” hahahaha start shooting over a few crummy kids books with torn pages? that’s hilarious.

and the fixation over guns is really rich. don’t you know that tomorrow’s “battlefield” will be internet security? your bank accounts, credit cards, credit rating, and economic freedoms will be stripped from you by hackers. no guns, no bullets. but plenty of misery for folks who are living in the 1900s.

The mom shouldn’t need a reminder that she borrowed books from the local library. Many children could have used the book in the 7 months Mom let it lay around the house. Individual responsibility MOM.. Do what’s right and the cops don’t have to drop by and remind you of the contract you signed when you took out a library card.

The word was “several” not “seven”. Reading skills do count. Of course I suppose you are right as you never make a mistake or forget anything. From what I could ascertain from the story, they had no other books overdue and may very well have been regular users of the library, and certainly the books (that’s plural James, another mistake?) could have been discussed whenever they checked out an additional book.

Clearly the mother is irresponsible… BUT the books were from the 5yr old’s account. The police show up while the little girl is home asking about the books on the 5yr old’s account. I’m sure she was terrified!

I’m in full agreement of the tactic concerning ADULT accounts, but for children? Come On! That child isn’t going to understand it is her mother’s fault.

Dysfunctional family? I’d vote yes. However, what fault is that to the 5 yr old little girl that is now going to have a fear of libraries, police, and probably books in general?

Another egregious misuse of expensive government assets. The Librarian needs to call the house, or God forbid, go there herself and get the books. Who gets paid more, a library employee or a police officer?
We have fallen off the ladder of Common Sense in this country.
Pull the family’s library card and shame them that way.

The officer was going there as a reminder after the family ignored repeated notices and calls about the overdue items. He wasn’t there to arrest anyone. At that point the family techincally had stolen property. If the mother would have just returned the books in a timely matter, the whole situation could have been avoided.

Better to have a friendly reminder, even from a police officer, rather than getting an offical summons informing you that you have to go to claims court about the missing items.

That’s the concern,,this type of action could lead to people feeling that way and the community can decide the library is not worth it. There are so many ways to get reading material now. The library really needs to consider this as a very bad decision. I wonder who else they are sending the police to collect books from or is it just this one person that had overdue books.

You don’t feel sorry for “THEM”? A 5yr old now has a fear of police, libraries, and probably books… Ya, a real win there…

I’m all for this concerning the adult accounts, but for a 5yr old? The mother is to blame, I agree. But, the police arrive asking about the books on the little girl’s account. She is in tears thinking she is going to get arrested. It is not her fault she was born with irresponsible parents…

Karma may well run over that librarian. Depending on how old she is, she may end up begging this child for a job in the future when hard copy books are completely replace by electronic books and their is no longer a need for a brick and mortar library. This will also mean that most librarians will no longer be needed.

another example of someone not taking responsibility for their actions which is making this country the cesspool that it often is…..it’s not my fault, I didn’t do anything wrong. Mom has looked at those books in her daughters room for months and knew they were overdue and yet it’s the libraries fault for wanting their books and fine money. ridiculous.

Are you brainless? This is a 5 year old child we are talking about. Who has barely learned to read,never mind get arrested. This so called cop on the other hand was supposed to be educated enough to know that a 5 year old can be intimidated easily and should have told the dam cheap ass library to go to hell. Instead he attacks a 5 year old for a lousy book fine. Big hero? No BIG ASSHOLE!!
I am sure this 5 year old learned a lesson. Never trust a policeman.

First, he wasn’t there to arrest her, it was a reminder. Second, I’m sure he dealt directly with the mother, since parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the child’s account. Better this than receiving that summons in the mail to appear to circuit court for missing items.

I feel sorry for the little girl that her mother ignored the notices and just refused to bring the items back.

Low man on the pole….B.S… That cop has no balls. Instead of maning up to his boss he would rather terrorize some little girl. Big tough police force. Just goes to show how tough / bullies work. Their SWAT Team was busy stealing milk money from the 4th grade boys in gym class. Don’t you lust love the police. Hey Allen: do you kick puppies?

The parents very well may have received notices, but it is a misdemeaner (not comitted in their presence) and no authority. Unfortunately it makes them look foolish no matter their good intentions. Try calling the PD to go to your neighbor’s house to tell him to give back the drill you loaned him three months ago. Without swearing out a complaint with a magistrate first to have a warrent or subpeona issued, no action will or should be taken by the PD.

What a bunch of MORONS! How much did it cost to dispatch a police officer to annoy these citizens? Our library sends emails when materials are coming due and one when they are overdue. A stern call from a librarian might have been appropriate but dispatching a police officer? The chief should have called the library and told them to “GET A BLOODY LIFE!” Remember that when the chief’s next performance review comes due…

Print media is dead. Haven’t been to a library inover20 years.
No need for a library any more except to give the home less a place to take a bath.
There is this great invention called the Internet. I download or buy any books I need online. Research all done online.
Only need for a library is for specialized research using old books and even those should be scanned in and digitized by now….

The librarian should be reprimanded and required to take a class in child psychology. Reading the overdue notice on the Charlton website, the parents should have been sent a bill and their borrowing privileges should have been revoked. Sending the police? The long lasting effect this action may have on this 5 year old child may be devastating to her self-esteem, her attitude towards books and learning, etc. The librarian shows a serious lack of judgment. As an educator I am appalled.

@ Linda and Willow – you
Public libraries spend a good amount of taxpayers money sending notices as well as calling users who fail to return their books. Lots of times those notices come back and telephones have been disconnected. And as others have mentioned those that are successful in being delivered are ignored. Yes, Shannon Benoit is the one who should be ashamed for failing to return the books but more important setting a poor example for her daughter – ignoring obligations and then blaming others for your own actions.

And Janine – when was the last time you were in a public library?? We’re lucky to take a “break” and shuffle (shelve) a book, in between teaching you and your child to search for a something for that last minute book report or reading fair project – or helping your child find 3-5 sources for their homework assignment you know the one that’s due TOMORROW! Not to mention helping someone build a resume, write a cover letter, download tax forms, apply for a job, connect to their online course, take a test, create a spreadsheet or power point presentation, save on a flash drive or just learn to navigate the Internet. You probably know how to do all or most of this, but you would be surprised at the number of people who rely on the library staff to help them. And, we do it with a smile and with great enthusiasm. In most places this service is freely provided using taxpayer money. Then we have to spend time mailing and contacting the numerous patrons, like Ms. Benoit, who disregard the loan policy. May not seem like such a big deal – but I bet it would be if you or your child needed those books for your book report, reading fair, or science project and could not get them because someone else failed to return them.

Cops should be sent to a house because a contract over a book worth a few bucks was broken? If another child really needed the book for a report they could use amazon prime and have it overnighted for a nominal fee.

What bull? Books are thrown away or burned every day, when they no longer serve the propaganda business. Many need to be burned for the filth they contain. The books are paid for by the taxpayers (even that childs mother) or by donations, not by you or the idiots in this library. Every prison in this country is overloaded with books so criminals can learn the law to “get out of jail free” or “how to escape”. Yet a 5 year old is threaten by a moron of a cop for a child’s book. I do not even bother to go to a library anymore, their is no one with any sense to find anything or they are nasty when you ask them a question. If the dam 5 cents overdue is your problem, then I suggest you are overpaid for the little work you do anyway. Hardly worth scaring the crap out of a 5 year old. I suggest closing down the libraries anyway and letting children borrow the books from their school library which taxpayers pick up the tab for anyway. If we can afford to educate ILLEGAL’s who break our laws, surely we can afford to allow one 5 year old who forgets to return her book, without the police attacking her? Let him go out and catch the illegals the fool. Anyone who votes more money for police, take a good look at what your money pays for. Scaring 5 year olds.

Hmm I think you need a new line of work. Most of us would not get that keyed up if the book was not there. We understand it happens. Maybe you need to take a break from your books and get to know some real people. To even think this is right just is disgusting and you are justifying it as a librarian. I can understand it is frustrating for you not to have that childrens book to do research with.. yup… Winnie the poohs summer vacation would make a great research paper but I think you need to get a grip here. I have a 5 year old and something like this would be horrible for her to handle. you are sick!

“if” is the problem here,,my child could need those books and they may not be available for lots of reasons,,,but I truly suspect that the books on the common shelves in the library are not so hard to find elsewhere or that rare or they would be better protected. If I teach 30 children who are required to use the one lone book in the library to fulfill their report obligations, someone is going to be left hunting for a book any way. Also, I can tell you of many experiences where the librarian has been anything but smiling and pleasant. Libraries are facing extinction all over the country,often requiring media attention and appeals to the community to keep their doors open. This action does nothing to endear the library to the public,,,,it will hurt them ultimately, that’s my thought. Our library has a “fee free weekend” every year where patrons can bring back old books, no matter how over due, and as long as they also bring in a can of food for the local food bank, all is forgiven. The books are back on the shelves, the patrons are happy and there is food given to the local food bank. That sounds a lot better than sending police door to door.

As long as overdue library books are returned, the United States is a little more safer. A big commendation should be given to that police officer who risked his life to bravely confront this hostile criminal in the name of truth and justice.

If the books were stolen from a book store, it is called shoplifting and law enforcement is expected to be involved. If the books are taken from a library and are never returned b rather stupid and irresponsible people, then why are police NOT supposed to be involved? Willful refusal to return borrowed property is theft just as surely as taking items from a store without paying for them.
As for the mother’s excuse that they never recieved an overdue notices….that is too predictable. I bet they DID get them, and they ended up in the trash.

ALWAYS BLAME SOMEONE ELSE. THAT MOTHER SHOULD OF TAUGHT HER DAUGHTER TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND TAKE HER DAUGHTER AND THE BOOKS BACK TO THE LIBRARY WHEN THEY WERE DUE. PERIOD. THAT WOULD OF BEEN THE CORRECT THING TO DO , BUT THE LAZY MOTHER WANT’S TO MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. SHE SHOULD OF BEEN SHAME OF HER INABILITY TO TEACH HER DAUGHTER OF BEING A THOUGHTFUL CITIZEN. OTHERS MAY OF WANTED TO USE THE BOOKS. BUT MAYBE THAT MOTHER WAS NEVER TAUGHT EITHER.

Someone should teach you to be a responsible netizen and not use all caps. Its very annoying and makes you look stupid. Also, how the heck is a little girl going to return books? Have you perhaps considered some people have so many things in their queue that returning books gets pushed to the bottom?

Let me start by saying that I love books: the tactile feel of the paper, the weight of the book, the smell of the printer’s ink. The many books I own are generally ones printed on the right feeling paper, with the comfortable looking typeface and the correct content. I am content with my books having these prerequisites.

Enough of that; I’m here to write about libraries and their future, their shift shaping, or maybe their demise.
(SHIFT SHAPING. Human Intellect for Tomorrow, to ‘effect change through the power of thought’ …)

I believe that libraries, in their past and current form should soon go the way of the ‘Dodo’.
(The DODO bird inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where it lived undisturbed for so long that it lost its need and ability to fly.)
These bricks and mortar; or more likely, these granite and steel edifices to political payback or ego. These power gulping, dust gathering, union sustaining relics need to be gently led to pasture. Then we can achieve a future full of technology and thoughtful use of the great inventiveness of man. (women are also welcome).

We now have access to information in ways unheard of just ten short years ago. Access that is at our fingertips, in our pockets; in living, moving color. Smart phones, iPads, touchy-feely techie tools to take us anywhere imaginable. So why be stuck with books in their past and present form?

For many years now, I have envisioned being able to go to a book designing facility, where I could find the perfect book model for my taste. A book that looked great, weighed the right amount, was printed with the correct size and style of typeface on the best paper. All of those things that I myself deem to be a great book. This ‘MyBook’ would have no content, but I could take it home and via some future firewire or wifi I could download any book that had ever been published onto the perfect pages of my ‘MyBook’.

I can hear the, “That’s ridiculous,” “That’s a stupid idea,” comments coming from the ‘RoadRunner’ readers right now. Hey! If someone can think of it, someone can make it. There are companies today who have already made thin, paper-like flexible computer screens. Take it further to the ‘MyBook’ and there’s no telling what the result may be. Students wouldn’t have to lug great spine-numbing backpacks of heavy books around, they would require just one ‘MyBook’. The content would change with the class they were taking. One book is all anyone would ever need. If the user got tired of that style they could always trade it in for a new style with a different feel. This basic concept can be achieved right now, today, with an iPad. Just imagine what tomorrow can bring?

Far less cutting down the forests to make paper pulp, to make it into paper, to ship to a factory, to print books, to ship to stores so that people could drive to the store to buy another book…… Well, that’s getting a bit far out, but I believe mankind can do anything he can put his mind to.

If the readers of this piece have the desire and the time to investigate the enormous amount of taxes it takes to sustain the State library infrastructure in its present form, they are going to be blown away with the colossal amounts of money spent. It’s in the $billions.

If there are to be libraries in our future, that is: besides those national monuments to pride and self-aggrandizement like the Reagan or the Clinton or the upcoming Obama library; then they could be humble, comfortable, affordable buildings with desks having built-in ‘MyBooks’, or today they could have built-in iPads.

No offense to the publishers of today, or the library builders, or the librarians; but I feel your days are numbered. Now back to my iPad. No! No! Where is that great book I was reading?

I believe the news piece stated the police would visit worst offenders and offer a friendly reminder – not arrest them! for heavens sake! …don’t be fooled. I doubt that this family – or other families’ visited by police owe a mere 50 cents to the library. It would be WAY more than that to warrant a police visit. (Remember it added up to $4000K for the offenders) -Typical “I didn’t do it- It was’t me” mentality. Ugh. Grow up and teach your kids to do right.

It was TWO books for several months. How much does the library charge for overdue books? Another way of writing $4000K would be 4 million dollars, but I don’t think the fines or cost of lost books were that high. Seems to me that a person that would make such a wild mistake like that could be a person that might forget to return a book. Normally I might say your reading skills need to be improved but in this case it is either your listening skills, math skills or typing comprehension skills.

Send a SWAT team! That’s how Dept.of Agriculture keeps those Pennsylvania Amish from selling un-pasteurised milk. SWAT them! Keep regular sergeants out of harm’s way. Until their pensions kick in & vacations days get paid off. We cannot afford to lose such talent.

I for one would welcome a visit from the local ,city, county, state, federal government law enforcement agency. Full tactical gear and armored riot vehicle (cause Plano Tx needs all that). As apposed to having the President personally label me a threat and just kill me or lock me up for life with out “presumably” getting to look for the damn thing. Really America, really???

I really tend to doubt that this child was traumatized over this. If anything, she’ll now be traumatized by her mother turning this into a giant hoopla with the media. What would have been a quiet incident will now be all over every public domain. As far as the officer traumatizing her, that sounds to me, like she might have dollar signs in her eyes over this. I had the pleasure of meeting officer Dowd years ago when I was a resident of Charlton. That childs mother should be grateful it was officer Dowd who went to her door. He is very caring and professional towards children and young adults when in uniform. He’s not a “yahoo cop” in any way shape or form. It’s absurd to think that he or his presence might have traumatized the little girl. Just by her stating that she closed the door on officer Dowd, leads me to believe this woman has no respect, be it for the police dept or the property of others. The chief should be ashamed of himself for not taking the matter in hand with the librarian to discuss how ridiculous sending an officer to her house for something such as this would look. He probably knew how foolish he’d look doing it and sent another to do the dirty work. It’s just too bad that officer Dowd made the news for something like this and not for what an outstanding officer he’s been for many years.

Why is everyone so upset with the police and the library? Guess what if the family had just returned the books like they were supposed to then this wouldn’t have happened. If anything people should be upset with the family for wasting everyone’s time and money because they were to lazy to return the books

The police out here in central Mass have done this for decades. I don’t know why this made the news. The North Brookfield police contacted me about an overdue book 30 years ago. No crime in the small towns of central Mass. Police have little to do. Towns should consoludate police departments to save money.

Ron s, you sound like an idiot. Applaud THIS, and then warn about unwelcome people being shown “force” for showing up at your house? Just wait till they come to collect a photo traffic violation you haven’t paid. Don’t worry, they’ll just level your house. You won’t stand a chance, you buffoon…..

Wait, wait, wait. Weren’t librarians all up in arms about the Patriot Act and claimed that the government would force them to supply reading lists of citizens? Now here we have those same civil libertarians sending a government agent, with a gun on his hip, to give a “gentle” reminder that the library knows where you live and will haul you to jail or maybe shoot you or use that excuse for a search of your house if you don’t give back cheap children’s books. Talk about chutzpah. I hope the library gets delisted from the National Librarians Association or whatever they call themselves. This is ridiculous.

If your police have to resort to chasing little girls down for late books to keep busy perhaps the solution is to have less taxpayer-funded lethal-weapon-armed NWO-controlled braindead thugs in your neighborhood. Nonsense like this, which traumatized this child, is a direct consequence of the bloated police state.

At least this little girl can be raised with no illusions about American police. When the generation of people like this girl who grew up prisoners in their own country grows up, we may finally have the critical mass to reverse what has happened to our beloved nation.

Police in Charlton are part of the community. People out here don’t live in fear of the cops and I’m sure the officer picked up the book with a polite smile.
The mother should have invited the officer in for a coffee. You sound big crime ridden city to me

They do call, send letters, and even send emails these, irresponsible parents want to blame someone else for theyre screw up. They need to teach theyre kid how to b responsible. After them not responding to any of those yes i think they should of called the cops its like basically stealing from a library.

2011 may go down as the year that delivered some of the most draconian forms of regulations and authoritarian measures in modern history. That’s why I am not surprised by this one bit. First let’s review this article and point out that the content of the books is omitted. Maybe she was reading something others don’t want her reading?

Now let’s go over some of these other cases.
1. A woman was told she couldn’t plant a vegetable garden in here front yard.
2. We saw numerous accounts where children’s lemonade stands were shut down and in some cases fined $500.00.
3. We saw TSA up the ante on pat downs and started taking baby diapers off sticking their hands down your pants.
4. A man was fined $4000.00 for pruning his crape myrtle trees and told he’s not allowed anymore.
5. We saw community annual picnics where people bring their own home grown foods and naturally prepared meats etc. completely shut down swat style and all food wasted thrown away.
6. Gibson Guitars was shut down and told that if they wanted to continue building guitars they should move to Madagascar. This was also swat team style raid.
7. Amish communities selling their natural milk locally were also swat teamed and told no!
8. Residents were informed they didn’t have the right to resist UNLAWFUL police entry into their homes.
9. Children were told they’re they can’t display their painting of the American flag in art class.
10. Some second hand goods stores are not allowed to use cash to conduct business.
11. Organic food stores raided swat style and shut down.
12. Journalists and concerned citizens thrown out of public meeting and threatened to be jailed. Some cases even declared martial law by the sheriff because the Mayer was siding with the citizen.
13. Silent dancing protesters arrested for silently dancing in protest.

And the list goes on and on and on. My take is that this is just another baby step toward a mass conditioning of American citizens to accept Orwellian world government. Just days ago I read an article that talked about allowing bicyclists and motorcyclists to run red lights in certain situations while another article days before this talked about children not allowed to bring Christmas cookies to the school celebrations.

I think you are very close to the truth of the matter. And how well that conditioning seems to be working, at least as demonstrated by some of the comments here.

As for those of you who would jump on the side of the library and the police, think about this for just a minute. I am a bibliophile. Always have been. I love books and care for them as if they are precious. When i borrow a book from the library, I often return it in better condition that when it left the building.

So, imagine my surprise when I received a bill from the library stating that I was being charged for a book damaged by having a sticky red liquid spilled on it. Not only do I never eat or drink anything with artificial red coloring, I certainly would never have spilled some on and returned a book ruined by such. I was also told that I had not returned another book and I was being charged for that one as well. Both of those books had been dropped into the night box in a tied plastic bag. If they were damaged or lost, it happened after I returned them.

I was told by the library that I was responsible. I told them they would have to take me to court. So far, I have not heard anything else from them.

Libraries are run by people and people make mistakes. So let’s not arbitrarily jump on the mom in this story. And let’s hope that the next time someone in the local PD is told to do something as asinine as this they refuse.

Good thing I’m not mayor of that lovely town. I’d be going over that police departent’s budget with a fine tooth comb.. If police officers seriously don’t have any thing better to do than ask children to return their library books, then man/hours can be cut. ANd if this was done while that officer was receiving overtime pay, then this Mayor demotes the Chief of Police and takes away his cop car and gives him a bicycle. Yup.

Just ANOTHER example of instilling (in children now!?!)…the whole “police state” goverment thing!…..like TSA B.S. for travelers!!!
GOOD GOD!;…ok was WRONG for the girl AND her parents to have 2 overdue books….SO they either pay the fine and return the books OR pay to replace the books!!!…but to have the police sent???….Feel sorry for the cop too!;….sure his co-workers are ribbing him lots about this….”did you request back-up?”…..”think maybe a K-9 unit would have helped “track” down the books?”….”maybe next time bring in SWAT and Air support too?”….LOL!
2012-SAVE THE REPUBLIC!
NO MORE “resident” (thats NOT a typo!) obama, mooochelle “antionette” AND the cabal of socialist/marxist czars!!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA! GOD “SAVE” THE REPUBLIC!

Boston, Mass. is a notorious “sanctuary city” in which tens of thousands (maybe more) illegal aliens who snuck into the USA illegally walk about and drive with no fear of any police officer daring to show up at their front doors, report them to ICE or, much less, arrest them. Yet in that same city, the same powers-that-be see no problem with sending a uniformed cop to the home of a young American child because of a couple of overdue library books. Can’t wait till the Spring, when the same govt. officials will once again shut down and fine American youngsters for setting up “unlicensed” lemonade stands. SHAME ON MASSACHUSETTS!

Never answer a cop’s questions, unless he has a warrant. Never speak to the police. Do not cooperate. If they are on your property without a warrant, order them to leave. There is nothing to be accomplished by speaking to a cop in your home. Don’t get angry; don’t over-react, just inform them that they are not welcome on your property, and you do not wish to speak to them. This type of nonsense is why we must act this way. I would like to say that this is not the cop’s fault, but, it is. Never treat the cop any different than you would any other intruder who is on your property without permission. They are not there to help you. If they do not have a warrant, tell them good-bye.Remember, if you did not call them or if you did not invite them, they are not there to help you, they are there to hurt you. You have no obligation to treat them any differently than you would any other unwanted person.

Many people posting are having difficulty connecting the dots. We’re all criminals now. And that’s the covert message of this and so many other over-the-top incidents that are occurring all around the USA.

Do you idiots know this board has a spell checker? Unbelievable how illiterate America has become. “Govner”? “Rediculous”? See the little red, squiggly line? That means the word is misspelled. How can you expect anybody to take you serious or care what you have to say if you spell like a third grader?

Law enforcement officials are like roaches. No matter how many you dispose of they just keep coming back. The police do not care about America or it’s citizens. The police should be the first line of defense against the government and the injustice of those in power but all they really care about is their paycheck and what they can shake down a citizen to get for them selves. Cops a garbage and I would not help one regardless of the cost. America would be a better place if there was NO law enforcement.

I wonder how many cops read this type of article and the accompanying comments. I wonder how many of those who do still don’t understand why it is things like this which make us have a lack of respect for them. The negative impact this action has made far outweighs any goodwill which may have existed in the community. Get a clue cops. Yes, you have a choice.

What are you all complaining about? This is the perfectly apt “speed” for many cops, mindless minions they are. It’s, like, what they’re suited for. Intimidate non-criminals to “send a message” for overdue books, crouch in the bushes with a radar gun to pick the pockets of commuters, and torment and pepper-spray the weak or the harmlessly unstable.

Yes, yes, I know, “when you call 9-1-1 and ask for the cops you’ll be singing a different tune blah blah blah….” — trust me, when the SHTF I would MUCH rather rely on my own self-defense and whatever common sense and decency remains within the community — when the cops finally do show up it’s to act like morons and/or take a report and/or cover you with a sheet. Oh, they’re big on “procedure.”

Trouble is, thanks to kings#!t ruling-class bureaucrats trying to reinforce a “sheep” mentality, now they send the idiot cops to interrogate you and arrest you for having the temerity to defend yourself.

What are you all complaining about? This is the perfectly apt “speed” for many cops, mindless minions they are. It’s, like, what they’re suited for. Intimidate non-criminals to “send a message” for overdue books, crouch in the bushes with a radar gun to pick the pockets of commuters, and torment and pepper-spray the weak or the harmlessly unstable.

Yes, yes, I know — “when you call 9-1-1 and ask for the cops you’ll be singing a different tune blah blah blah….” — trust me, when the SHTF I would MUCH rather rely on my own self-defense and whatever common sense and decency remains within the community — when the cops finally do show up it’s to act like morons and/or take a report and/or cover you with a sheet. Oh, they’re big on “procedure.”

Trouble is, thanks to kings#!t ruling-class bureaucrats trying to reinforce a “sheep” mentality, now they send the idiot cops to interrogate you and arrest you for having the temerity to defend yourself.

I stopped going to the public library when they claimed I didn’t return materials and the returned materials were on their shelf. Their workers forgot to enter the return material in their database when it was returned. Seems that a lot of people were getting fined for their “returned books”.

This is why, when the slimy bureaucrats try to con people into voting for new taxes because “otherwise crucial departments like the police will have personnel cuts” — this is why many people are exasperated by the ruse and some even raise a cheer at the prospect of diminishing the size of the police force.

With over-funded departments being used like this, who needs a toilet to flush down the taxpayers’ money? With cops going around showing up at people’s doors like this, who needs thugs?

Apparently when you vote for Democrats for a few generations you become retarded. Like everyone in this town,
That having been saide, I stopped going to the library 20 years ago because the absolutely, smug, judge-mentalist when i attempted to check out a book. i suspect they all would do well in Charlton.

This is un-real.
How many people are so willing to have the full power of the state arrayed against this mother for the daughter having two over due books!!!
Such condemnation of a parent, multiple mentions in this tread for failing to “teach responsibility” to a five year old. Are you kidding, a five year old??? Teaching responsibility to a five year old. Lord please protect me from self-righteous fools.
Yet another example of why every aspect of government is to be avoided.

The United States of America is collapsing under the weight of PUBLIC institutions and the ‘scum’ that exploit the laws.

Libraries in America were developed by PRIVATE PEOPLE. Ben Franklin, Andrew Carnegie. They would ‘could not’ ask the police to engage such matters.

I for one am TIRED OF SOCIALISM and the DEMOCRAT EUROTRASH “public” in our Libraries, Schools, Retirements, Health care, EVERYTHING you do, think, or say. as some jerk sticking their nose into your business.

The impression we as citizens have of cops has been ruthlessly chipped away. They are not viewed as ‘civil servants’ anymore. They are our enforcers, they’re people to be afraid of.

I’d rather have cops doing MORE stuff like this, not as an excuse to terrorize, but as a method of keeping relations more civil. If we didn’t automatically assume that cops meant we were in trouble, and if COPS didn’t automatically assume that they are superior to regular citizens, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so bad.

As civil servants, yeah, let the cops do stuff like this. They are NOT too good for this, and perhaps if the cop had handled it right, the kid could have come away with a better reaction than she obviously had. Then again, the same thing could possibly be said of how the mom handled it.

I’m not sure what is worse here, the fact that a Police Officer was sent to roust a 5 year old for two over due library books, or that so many people posting here seem to think that it’s o.k. for the Police to be doing this kind of thing.

Who is the lazy and loser Police Chief who was not able to tell the librarian she was over the top with her request? Police are being reduced due to budget cuts and they send a cop to do this? Probably asked him to stop by the girls house during a donut run.

I guess the police had no embezzlement, theft, rape, or murder cases open for the police to be spending their time on. BS. The problem is that all of the complaintants in those cases were mere taxpayers. When a government beaurocrat files a complaint they go to the top of the list, no matter how trivial the offence. A librarian in Mass; what are the odds this Nazi is a liberal?

It’s really simple. The books were not theirs. Return them. Adults have such a problem with an authority figure telling them they did wrong ( getting traffic tickets for instance). This is not about a five year old but about a mom who can’t admit she’s wrong and do the right thing.

you people are a bunch of paranoid, overreacting idiots. I’m from this town and there’s a lot of micromanagement in everything. relax and stop reading into things that aren’t there. OMG, OBAMA’S POLICE STATE!! OMG!! STFU. that has nothing to do with this, not to mention the fact that it doesn’t exist. go find something better to do than write three paragraph responses about why the librarian should take a child psychology course and how it relates to the downfall of western civilization and ZOMG SOCIALISM!! phew. that felt good.

In California now anything you owe to the state or some other entities (ie: fines, penalties, support, or whatever) can and will be attached to your DMV (ie: license, vehicle registration,or whatever) whether criminal or civil matter. This issue with this library and family is a CIVIL matter and should never have involved the police. If you or i had called the police with this same type of issue we would have been told to us by the same police that this is a civil matter and they CANNOT do anything !!! Possibly now this child might have a resentment towards the police or authority figures from this unnecessary police contact. I know i did …..

Whether it is a civil matter or not is up to local laws. Apparently, in Mass. it is a criminal matter. I wish here in Texas we could simply attach the fines to someone’s ability to renew their car registration or drivers license. We would probably have a lot higher compliance rate.

I think someone was just getting tired of waiting for “Their 15 minutes of Fame ” to happen , So they took their “Shot” by using this idiotic situation that should have never seen the light of day as far as news reporting. Now , just look at all the time,effort,and thought put into this “NoBrainer of a story. I’m ashamed of my own self for actually sending this post . Ow, ouch,ooh, …”sounds of me punishing myself” ……

You’re just a pathetic excuse for an American. Bush did NOTHING for 8 years about immigration, and now that Obama is President, and deporting illegal aliens at twice the rate as Bush, he’s some sort of evil conspirator. Loser.

Incarcerate that terrible child. Kids today are out of control, what with all the rogue book-borrowing! Next thing you know, they will be learning about the Constitution and we damn well can’t have that!

so officer thick head – you could have picked up the phone and called the home on the telephone,. Even left a voice mail. Bet the library has an email address for the family you could have used instead.
We should be grateful that a swat team didn’t storm the house to reclaim the book, but there were certainly other options available then blindly following orders.
We are about to enter a difficult period in this country and the excuse of following order will not fly when the dust settles.
Think about your actions folks, we will all be held to account.
Please do return the books – especially before the library calls in an air strike on your house. There’s blame to go for them calling the police too

Now, now Joseph, you are allowing your uncontrolled and irrational emotions run wild, calm down before you give yourself a stroke. This is partly what is wrong with this Republic, people such as yourself desire to abuse the rules of the “day”, without having to suffer any consequences of your sordid actions.

What can or needs to be said that haven’t already been expressed? Certainly Hailey mother has the problem, Hailey mother should be training her daughter how important it is to be responsible and accountable for her actions. That’s all I’ll say on this matter.

Somweone had to collect the books. The law requires them to be returned and who better to do this than the police in case there may be a confrontation with the sorry parents who should have had them returned. Other children had the right to read the books. The responsibility was with the parents and they were at fault.

How come I don’t get to sick the cops on future civil litigants that I foresee bringing to court at some later date? If my neighbor commits a trespass on my land, or an accidental conversion by not returning a rake, will my call to the police station result in the police leaning on my neighbor? No, of course not. This is another example of government getting preferential treatment, and the bending of the Rule of Law.

OK, so at what point are the parents and child responsible for the overdue books? Operative words in the article: “….several months overdue…” and they “…insist they never got any warnings” Apparently they “found” the books rather quickly, so the books were not lost. Why is it that everyone is to blame EXCEPT the child and parents? This is indeed a growing trend – not taking nor accepting responsibility. It’s always “someone else’s fault”.

This reminds me of the TV commercial where the dad orders plutonium over the internet and the swat team shows up and rings the door bell and the lady answers the door then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose in her house.. So freaking funny on TV but not in real life.. lol

WOW, an American youngster that is interested in books. How unique in this age of cooperative dumbing down of America’s youth. The child is probably more advanced than a lot of American high school teenagers.
SEND THE COPS !! SOMEBODY’S USING A BOOK !!!! WOW !!!

And the stupid Democrats hated George W. Bush because they thought he would listen to their telephone calls?
This is what I am afraid of…..the people vs the cops!
And these cops will do anything to protect the $25-35 an hour min. of 4 hours ” second jobs.” Be it arresting 5 years olds, tasering an hospital bed bound 80 years old grandmother or tasering a baby squierrel, these cops will do anything and dismiss it by saying, ” we were just following orders.”
Didn’t the Nazis say the same thing?
Stupid, cowardly cops!
Grow a pair……and tell your superiors……NO!
Be a man!

Definitely is the mother’s responsibility to make sure the books are returned, period, so this whole thing is her fault, and her fault, alone, to have come to this!

I’m sure that police officer hated to be the “messenger”, but someone had to do it, and according to reports, he was polite, the best he could!

It also had to be such an embarrassment for the responsible mother, but as others have pointed out, is better than a court summons, so whining to the media about it, doesn’t send a responsible message, in my view!

Guess what will happen now. This child, and many others, will be too scared to borrow another book. Evah. As the traffic in the public libraries in the Boston area declines we will be inflicted with editorials about the decline in reading and the sad state of the library system and that it needs more funding to save the children from an illiterate hell and why oh why can’t we do things the Chinese way and please re-elect Obama because this is Bush’s fault.

Do the phones not work in Charlton? Just wondering since the time it took to call the police, file a complaint and exercise that complaint: a phone call to the Mom (whose name would be on file at the Library including a phone number) would have save everyone time , including me for having to point out the obvious!

It was stated that the library sent several notices and phoned the house about the missing items. I’m sure the family just ignored the notices. Every library sends out several notices before overdue accounts are sent to collections or whatever.

It is an invasion of property going on here. the book belongs to the library. yes the people should return it. But having a police man go the the house because of a 5 year old not returning a book when there is probably some teen drinking down the street or some one speeding down the street. Some kids beating other people up. Deal with that and i think the library should take a chill pill and back of. Also the police needs documentation in order to come onto the property.

It’s about a Mom looking for legal council or a bunch of ambulance chasers looking for that Mom. It’s about a media outlet getting people worked up over a non event and giving Mom and her lawyer some fodder to use in court. Tears, oh dear. I imagine that can easily be stretched into lifelong damage and the need for reparations. Always follow the money trail folks.

Trustee of this library in Charlton, Mass., is Mr. Stefan Sage. In a NY Times article dated September 21, 2011, regarding a Mark Twain book of all things, Mr. Sage confessed: “I am a slow reader.” It seems that ‘slow’ in general terms may be at an epidemic level in Charlton. It starts at the top, and works down, at least in the library. Mr. Sage is a big shot in the town, introduces the marching band, etc., etc. bla-bla-bla. Somewhere along the line these people were too ‘slow’ to ever understand the U.S. Constitution.

Maybe mom should be borrowing the books if she can’t be bothered getting them back? Mom should have been arrested because of how she’s teaching her little girl not to respect the property of other people. “Look honey, these books are free! Who gives a crap if we keep them in good condition or ever return them?”

I’d think cops time would be better spent trying to solve just one murder of the tens of thousands of unsolved recent murders in our country. I’m sure a grieving family would appreciate finding the killer of their loved one. Unfortunately that doesn’t pay their pension costs so they have to go after hard working Americans!

With all the problems we as Americans face daily, it’s amazing that police are utilized for scare tactics.
With the problems with Street gangs, drugs, murder, child abduction, we utilize the police to collect library books.
What next, do we send SWAT Teams to collect over due Cable or Electric bills? For insufficient funds in a bank account, do we call out the National Guard?

The mother should have taken the books back to the library. We all know that. Why the books were not returned is in question. Sending a policeman to collect though? There is no difference in taking this measure than to have a child arrested for playing cops and robbers and saying the “Bang” word as they make a pretend gun with their finger.

The books were overdue!
They are public property.
However they were reclaimed is okay with me.

Mom was wrong, the child was wrong.
You can all figure out how it might have been done better, but you aren’t involved and your advice is free….I’m old enough to know what free advice is worth, are you?

There is a great deal of Cop bashing in this thread, and that is just as wrong as the overdue books! The Cop did the right thing, he obeyed his boss; his boss did the right thing, he had a complaint. Frankly, it is the Cop bashers who are as much to blame for this situation as anyone else. Voting has consequences, you bright people have been voting to enslave everyone.

Stupid and onerous laws, who is to blame? It’s simply those of you who feel we need another law on the books. You get the Government you deserve, and this is a perfect example.

I don’t ever remember police being sent to homes to retrieve books 20, 30 years ago. Then there was those children’s lemonade stands. Then 100 watt light bulbs. Oh that’s right, we are a different country now. It almost feels like we are being occupied. Accepting this type of behavior means you have been absorbed by the system. You are fully conditioned. Just like the people were in Germany some 60 years ago. When they finally realized it, it was way too late. The statist’s trick is to do it a tiny bit at a a time…a slow simmer…until the frog (we) are cooked and don’t know it.

Looks like another teaching moment skillfully avoided by a would be mother. Instead of taking the time to complain to the PRESS about it, why didn’t MOMMA take the time to explain to her daughter the responsibility of returning borrowed items in a timely manner. If momma is upset about the police showing up, why didn’t she just BUY the book for her child and avoided the “Taxpayer Funded” library middleman.

Theft is theft. Failure to return libary books is no different than shoplifting a pack of gum. Teach your kid what’s right and to stop complaining when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Who is to say there was no intent to keep the books forever? Maybe not, but intent doesn’t matter.

There was a Leave it to Beaver episode where Beaver was convinced by Eddie Haskell that the police would arrest him for an overdue book. That was fiction. Who knew, in their wildest dreams, that such a police state could ever, ever be possible in this nation? You assess a fine, and if it is not paid, remove Library privileges until it is paid. How hard is that?

No one was being arrested, it was a reminder. If the officer hadn’t been sent over there to remind the family of the overdue books, they would have eventually gotten the summons for court.

Everyone seems to be reading over the ‘friendly reminder’ aspect. The officer was polite about the situation and was not there to arrest anyone.

The library has to pay for the replacement of lost items if they’re never returned and that’s not always in the budget.

Libraries call, and the send out notices. It’s not the fault of the county or the officer that the mother failed to acknowledge these notices. If she would have returned the items on time, this whole situation could have been avoided.

1. The mother is responsible. A 5 year old doesn’t know any better, can’t check out a book, can’t drive, etc.
2. The mother went to the news station to get publicity for a yet unknown reason.
3. The mother knew the books were sitting in her residence long past the due date. Why?
4. The mother said she never got any warning before the police arrived. What warning do you need when you are responsible for returning them?
5. The police officer was apparently extremely polite the entire time. He stopped by to offer a simple reminder, when pressed by the library. He did NOT pound the door down, handcuff the mother, and scold the child. Why would a 5 year old burst into tears unless the mother created a drama scene for publicity?

Officer Ryan,
Since when do the police serve as field agents for the local library, terrorizing a mother and daughter? The police in America are a completely different creature than they were just 10 years ago. Because of this, a police officer just approaching somebody’s home can be a very traumatic experience. Like somebody else said, it’s like pounding in a ten-penny nail with a sledge hammer.

Ryan is right on! One of the only sensible comments I’ve read on here! And I thought and thought about his last point the most. Why WOULD the 5-year-old child burst into tears at the sight of a policemen at the door? In school our children are taught that policemen are our friends, and to go to them if we are in trouble. So who teaches them something different about policement? THE PARENTS!! Hence, the child’s ignorant, over-agressive mother’s reaction was what scared the child! If my mom had been the type to yell and scream at, and slam the door in the face of a policeman, I would also have wondered if the policeman came to our home to arrest someone, because it would have looked like my mom was frightened. Children become frightened by how their parents react to something, because they don’t know any better. They must rely on their parents’ judgement. And this mom obviously is a bad parent with terrible judgement, to not only act that way in front of her daughter, but to allow these overdue materials to kept for as long as they were. The mother scared that child about police before that poor, put-upon officer ever came to the door! Either by her own personal attitude about police, or by letting the little girl watch too many bad cop shows on TV.
So don’t blame the police, they were the last resort. Don’t blame the library because they tried everything else to get these lazy, selfish parents to return these materials. The blame rests with the parents. And mom claiming she never got notices? BULL!

The mother should apologize to the library, police and daughter for allowing this to happen and explain to the daughter that she was wrong for not getting the daughter’s books back to the library on time. I agree it was an over reach by the police but the mother acts like she is innocent in all this.

The preceding is about the strangest exchange of comments that I have ever read. There seems to be a lot of “bomb throwers” on both sides with just a sprinkling of rational comments mixed in. To the outside world having a police response for two overdue library books sounds a bit extreme but it’s nothing compared to these posts. Would some of you folks expect a “senior citizen” observed jay walking to be thrown on the ground, hand cuffed, and taken away in chains? They would after all have violated the law.

Just one more reason people are leaving the used-to-be-great state of Massachusetts. Folks, check out one of the no-income tax states, grab your hat & coat and don’t forget to turn out the lights on the Kennedy-Frank welfare/police state.

And how about the 4 year old girl who threw her gum wrapper on the playground at school and the police came, handcuffed her, put her in the back of the police car for a half hour letting her cry until her parents were called and came out. The girl was let go but the parents received a 300 dollar fine for littering.

The above is fictional but I bet you thought it was real while you were reading it. It is not far removed at all from reality and what we see happening to the law and justice in this country today. Confusion. Right is wrong and wrong is right and everything in between gets treated like a crime.

I once had a cop show up at our door because I didn’t take my son to a doctor’s appointment. Nevermind that our doc had decided to send son to another specialist and so had cancelled the first appointment; the first specialist got worried and called the police when son didn’t show up. So I called the first specialist, explained what was going on, answered his questions. The policeman (who was very apologetic the whole time) went on his way. I was NOT happy about the whole thing, but OH WELL. You don’t start whining and calling in the presses about every little thing.

The mother missed a good chance to teach a lesson. It’s sad to see. What is happening? This country is diving to the ground in little steps like this. There are consequenceses to this blame game. When I was young there was a partnership between most adults and children; an unspoken rule that we were all on the same side. I do not like the shift and it starts at home.

My daughter wanted to read that book. She had a study period in the library twice a week. Everyone knew who had the book and requests were ignored, numerous requests from many different channels and people. I personally stopped by the library to check outb the book. What happened to responsibility? Not only is it being lost, it is being pushed away by those that should embrace it and instill it in their little loved ones. It’s not the police, it’s the parent who needs to be addressed.

Several people have mentioned that the story states that the library sent her notices and bills. I have scoured the story several times and I don’t see that. The mother is responsible but using the police for this is ludacrous. Send a notice that it is going to a collection agency. I just think this went way too far and agree that the librarian who made this decision and the Chief who delegated it should be reprimanded. They should have known that at the very least this would be a public affairs nightmare for their town.

Wihen ever a government has union thugs on its payroll – uniformed & nonuniformed – it will always enforce the collection of their money from the taxpayers who exist only for the production and delivery of revenue for the govrnment employees benefit. That’s their primary duty – – – to themselves.

Hey mom – nice job of parenting, first and foremost. Teaching your daughter to be a deadbeat? Those books were borrowed from the public trust – one you apparently do not deserve.

As to the police – they must have too much manpower available to be chasing this BS. Go solve some street crime, B&E’s or knock the local drug kingpin over but chasing overdue library books? Bizarre. J. Edgar just rolled over again.

While I do not condone the little girl not returning the books, or the parents ignoring whatever warning(s) they may have received, wasn’t there another way to recover the book? Using the police to go after a five-year-old’s overdue library books is a shocking abuse of police resources! So was a librarian too busy to drop by?

I like the idea of libraries but I’ve never liked going into or dealing with them. I’d rather spend a quarter at the local thrift store, swap meet, or yard sale, and own the book. When I donate books, it’ll be to a thrift store.

You people are idiots with no understanding of the law. It’s NOT a criminal act, it’s a civil dispute and the police should not have become involved. If anything the person at the library should be fired for calling the cops in the first place. Like someone already mentioned, you turn the account over to a collection agency. If it drags on, eventually you get a judgement against the parents – but the cops coming by the house? Shouldn’t the chief have a better understanding of the law?

Oh come on. Talk about not knowing the law. The parents, by not returning the items, essentially stole them from the library. Theft is a criminal act and the laws of Mass. recognize it as such. If it was just owing fines, that would be another matter, but they had tangible property that did not belong to them and they refused to return. Worse, it was property paid for by the tax dollars of the residents.

What a way to destroy a 5 year old child’s love of reading and trust in authority. I can remember when librarians, teachers and even cops behaved w/some about of intelligence and civility. Now that they are all state employees, those days are gone. I have no difficulty believing the library employees didn’t send out late notices and instead relied on the police to do their collection work for them. Govt. school teachers have handed over student discipline to the police as well. Ideally, parents will be responsible enough to set a good example and always remember to return library books on time. I’m sure all the people posting here against the mother are all absolutely perfect parents.

I used to work in libraries, and you loose a lot of resources by books not being returned, BUT you loose a lot more overall by harassing patrons like this. Now that Mother and Girl will be afraid to use the library, will refuse to support its fundraising efforts and hopefully their family and friends will do the same. The library will loose out because statistics will drop, which will make it be possible for closure. There are other tactics that can be used to replace the books that are missing rather than the discusting pratices of getting police or collection agencies involved that some library systems have resorted to.

In the first place, it is “lose”, not “loose”. It is “disgusting”, not “discusting”. Anyway, libraries resort to things like collection agencies because of the high number of delinquencies. In our library system, which is only three libraries (serving around 150,000 people), we currently have over $500,000 in overdues, lost material and fines. Sending out polite letters did not work, so we started using Unique Management, a collection agency that specializes in libraries. They only charge us a flat fee of $9 per account and they have a much gentler way of dealing with the issues. Patrons do not get credit reported unless they ignore at least 3 phone calls and 3 letters over a 120 day period. If they contact the library, we will suspend collection activity if they make even a modest payment arrangement. Kids never get credit reported and any collection activity is aimed at the parents. It has worked wonderfully for us.

We don’t want the money so much as the materials returned. The money does not stay at the library anyway, but goes to our city general fund, so we prefer to get the materials back as they often are not replaceable.

Really, you could puke. The officer explains it all away, but if he has children himself he should know that his presence and warning could only terrify a five year old girl. Anyway can’t someone donate some books to that poor, desperate library? If you look closely, a lot of absurdly fascist excesses that get into the news originate in schools and low-level official committees, and even in police stations (where they really ought to know better). It just demonstrates the avenues of top-down flow of statist and Orwellian ideas being circulated from the federal government to the local governments and to the people.

The library sent several notices to the home via USPS and email. Receiving no answer, the library made several calls to the home and were now apparently being ignored. An assistant librarian was sent to the home to retrieve the book, saw the curtains pulled abruptly as she walked up the sidewalk to the front door…

If the above scenario that I described, played out in this situation, one could almost ALMOST! understand a cop MAYBE making a phone call or something. But, even that is ridiculous, over-the-top psycho-BS!!!

I blame the MOM… screw her for putting this on the library or the police. try teaching your daughter some personal responsability instead of just blaming everyone else. Cops should have locked the mom up for being a terrible role model.

I grew up in Massachusetts and left when I was 27 and never looked back. Now at 65 I see what Progressives have done to the state and its people brainwashed to accept servitude to the state as normal. It is hard to believe our Revolution for individual liberty started there. You are not the same people, you are the soul mates of the Bolsheviks. Enjoy your servitude and keep electing Democrats. Fools!

So if I take $5 is isn’t theft? Is stealing $10 theft, how about $100 or $1000. Personally if someone has knowingly borrowed or taken something of any value from another and knowingly kept it for personal use, it is “theft” – the value of it is not relevant. Thinking otherwise simply grows the problem and the value of the loss.

This woman had been reminded, and asked, and pushed to return the library’s books- she had them for over TWO MONTHS! Clearly stealing property and refusing to meet obligations and responsibilities is being passed on to her children. Better the police come now than have to deal with a more serious case later on.http://tracesofevil.com

David Heath how do you know this? You have directly contradicted the family’s account. Are you just another defender of Massachusetts moderate/progressives statist to the core? Do live in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts

So typical of our society now – just call the cops. Did the cops even ask whether the library had sent a notice? No, they just sent a tax-feeding intimidator to the door. Unless you want to escalate a situation, NEVER call the cops.

I don’t know if it’s something in the water up there or what, but I continuously keep reading of wacko stuff like this making the news in the Boston/New England area. Is is something in the air, the seafood, or maybe the brain dead liberal point of view that causes people to do totally idiotic stuff up there. From the stuff that gets reported from the schools, to local political numbskulls, to some of the court decisions by moron judges, there has to be something that keeps the NE trapped in loonie land. A good indication is the elected representatives from that region.

You are getting lost in petty details. People shouldn’t steal and cops should perform their jobs with honor and ethics. You being simple minded allows the cops to run roughshod over innocent people. The child could have learned that lesson without some adult CHOOSING to traumatize her.

The cop could have chosen any other method to get his point across-he could have even called the child and told her to return the books. It would have cost less and it would have been handled.

complete bs, we all know no LEO will have the social skills or bed side manner to kindly tell a child she needs to return back those books. there so amped up on arrogance, that there gung ho ways get involved with everything the answer is simple police officers work for democrats thus making them a bitty bunch of communists! remember too LA sheriffs office taken tax payer dollars can gave it to those dirty muslims, Cops today also execute our military marine vets there loose cannons. where ran by communists thanks to fools whom voted for Obama

Do they know how much money they could have saved in police dispatch fees by just sending the woman to a collections firm?

Coke and meth dealers run rampant and the cops choose a 5-year-old to deplete their man hours.

To the posters showing hate to those they call “trailer trash” when the cops choose to persecute the “trailer trash” for petty issues instead of getting over to your house in a REAL emergency will that be okay?

Just remember this insult the next time you get to vote for Sheriff, judges or anyone associated with this incident. What are they going to do next? Send a SWAT team to the house to confiscate the book and trash the house looking for it?? Ridiculous!!!

Perhaps if Mom taught the kid responsibility then that would not have been necessary. My problem is all you snooks with short sighted knee jerk reactions; the law is the law. Wake up and look at the big picture and quit being led around by your knoses

They sent ONE cop after a 5yo little girl!?!?! Are they CRAZY!?!?! They should have sent a whole SWAT team. Don’t you know that a 5yo girl is the most dangerous creature on the planet? Haven’t you seen those 6″ long razor sharp teeth? She can bite your knee caps off! And with the strenght of 10 men, wooo, that cop was one lucky dude.

After reading many of the comments I now know why this country is so messed up. Those who bring up Mr. Obama or blame Liberals, Progressive or Democrats are out of touch with reality. Those that think the mother should be investigated for child abuse are just plain insane. Those that beieve the little girl should be punished for breaking a law should be investigated for their abject stupidity. We are talking about two books that a five year old is capable of reading. It’s not the end of the world….unless one considers the vile bile that has been squatted and squirted by so many posters here…perhaps this world should see its demise!

The matter should have been sent to a collection agency. The use of the police was over the top. But on the bright side, they must have barely any crime in that town to have the police chasing after library books.

The mother is the one responsible. A 5 yr old is only allowed a card if a responsible adult signs for her. There was no reason for the police to contact the child. Seems a little over the top to involve the police, how about a phone call from police to the mother and a warning that they will be by to pick the books up?

The library should have done what businesses do, and sent them to collections. The chief should have told them to do this. And the sergeant could have used this amazing new invention called the TELEPHONE! Typical public employee buffoonery.

Almost everyone…and I mean ALMOST everyone doesn’t understand.
Fines for Library over-due books are sent to a collections agency. The fines DO NOT ACCUMULATE. If the price of the daily over due reaches the price of the book itself then that is the fine. There is a cap on the what’s due. Then if you don’t return the book or pay the final cost, your card is put on hold and you pay the collections agency. The problem is no longer between the library and the patron but then becomes a problem with the collections agency and the library patron.
You can’t involve police in these matters. Period. This can set a precedent for other late fee items. Let’s say I’m late with my Macy’s payment. Will we then see police coming to doors of customers to ‘intimidate’ them into paying their bills?

What a great lesson for the kids…how NOT to respect others or their property! You can BORROW our things, NEVER return them, NOT pay for replacements and there are NO consequences!
Use of the library and it’s materials are a priviledge. OTHER CHILDREN may also like to enjoy those books. Had they been returned AS AGREED by the Mom or Dad or whatever ADULT’s in charge,this would be a moot discussion.
I wonder how many UNRETURNED items, UNPAID fines, and UNANSWERED requests for it’s property this family had BEFORE the library felt such drastic measures were nessesary? Maybe all libraries should start to require a credit card number to release materials to borrowers.

The parent signed for the childs library card! The parent commits to the responsiblity. Were the books late? Yes. Simple as that. Do not throw a fit because you were in the wrong, parent. If the city does it that way, so what!

They should have sent the swat team in to retrieve the books and arrest the little criminal and throw her in jail. How irresponsible to check out library books and then not take them back! By holding on to those books they are preventing some other poor kid from having the opportunity to read them and better their lives. Dumb Republicans!

Idiots. Sounds like the cops have far too much free time on hand. Shouldn’t they be out harassing, terrorizing and torturing adult citizens for everyday minor misdemeanors. Let’s lay most of them off and free up some of these tax dollars for our bankrupt cities or tax refunds instead of living in a babysitting police state.

It’s an honor system. You revoke the privileges of those who have none.
For a couple of bucks the library learns who they can lend to.
Probably the result of some asinine overdue charges created to pad the librarians excessive salary/pension or add a new politically correct themed wing to the building.

Boy, there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about what libraries do and should do. Here are a few:

1. To the person who thinks that most books are donated to the libraries. In most locations that is not true. Most are bought with taxpayer money, unless it is a private library. Most public libraries are attached to a municipality, county or state.

2. To the person who said that in Texas, they issue a warrant. That all depends on the local laws. I am the sysadmin for a library in Texas and our local laws do not allow for this. We send them to a collection agency once they are 60 days past due. We can take them to municipal court, but in my 11 years here, that has happened only once.

3. Libraries have to follow their local laws as to how they treat seriously overdue items. Period.

4. Most libraries send out multiple notices when an item becomes overdue. We get the excuse all the time that they never received a notice, but you know what? We are not legally required to do so. The patron still owes the book, fine of payment of a lost book whether or not they receive a notice.

5. No library director in their right mind would go after a five year old. The parents, maybe, but not the child. In our library, the parent has to sign the application for a library card, thus assuming all responsibility for the books the child takes out.

6. We have parents all the time use the child’s card to check out books when their own card is blocked due to excessive fines, etc. They also know that in our case, we don’t charge late fees on children’s books, so they take advantage of that.

7. As librarians, we are stewards of taxpayer resources. Even if the books are donated, they still are the property of the library and keeping them out without compensating for them is theft. Pure and simple. Not by the 5 year old, but by the parents who just thought they could keep them out forever. They are there for the use of ALL patrons, not just the family who justifies keeping them because they pay more in taxes than what the book costs. Everyone’s taxes go into the purchase of that book. Keeping it out deprives other taxpayers who contributed to the purchase of the book from enjoying it.

Like most people of normal intelligence I certainly understand the problem that libraries have with people who fail to return books, so, we do not need a diatribe or lengthy lecture. The problem here is not that the library enforced return of books, but, rather, that a fully trained law enforcement officer was utilized to do it. This was a very poor use of public resources and the library geniuses like yourself could surely devise a cheaper and more efficient method.

That is your point and there is some merit to it. I was trying to counter some of the misinformation that is going around here about libraries. Sorry if it was too long for you.

The overall point is that not all libraries are the same and their practices vary based on local policy and laws. In our library, we would never send a cop out for this. We do use a collection agency and in the worst cases, like someone keeping over $1000 in materials out, refer them to our local municipal court. If they don’t show up there, then the court will issue a warrant, but that is out of our hands.

I agree that it may have been overreach to send a cop; however, as is usually the case, the press is not giving the whole story, so all these knee jerk reactions are just idiotic.

Why so these irresponsible parents could slam the door in there faces, much easier and safe for the cops to go over there. If sending letters to them calling there house and even sending emails didnt work, u really think for the librarians and theyre assistance go to the house its gonna work. it took the father 5 mins to find those books and the books he even checked out.

I’ll never forget when I was a little girl and my mother told me, “There’s a policeman at our door who wants to talk to you. He wants you to tell him where your overdue library book is”. This was 1960 and I was eight years old. Funny how over 50 years later they can’t seem to find any illegal immigrants but are johnny-on-the-spot with ferreting out an overdue library book that a child has.

This mother is a shmefull example to her little girl..Theft of public poperty is terrible. The mother should be arrested. Make an example of her. Are you trying to Steal or just to fat and lazy to drive them back to the library.

Dear God, please help us. We have kept the ROT of society for so long hoping to save it that we have now mostly ROT as our society. It it takes a 99.9% wipe of the human population to save it then please please please make it so.

I’m just wondering how the libs here will feel when Mom walks away with a couple of million from a lawsuit for harrassement and emotional distress for her daughter. Will she instantly become one of those nasty, wealthy 1%ers?

I’m not from Boston, and I find it surprising that so many there are supportive of the mom and condemning the library and the police for the attempts to retrieve public property. First off if everyone stole books from the library we would very quickly find ourselves without the use or benefit of these wonderful institutions. I find it disturbing that so many comments rationalize that it is acceptable to steal from a library because some general taxes have been paid in the past by the thief. Second, they did not arrest the mom, only asked for the books back, but even if they did, she is responsible for the books checked out and should have either returned them or paid the value for them if they were lost. If it is a crime to steal books from a library then ultimately that law would have to be enforced. Better and cheaper to send the police to remind the lady of the consequences than for her to continue to not respond to the requests for the property and be arrested for theft. The parent should be ashamed that she caused the police to have to be sent to her house to retrieve property and that she caused other resources to be wasted in attempts to get her to meet her obligations.

This is complete BS. The MOTHER is the one responsible for those books AND for the cost of the police having to come collecting them, it was her responsibility to make sure they were returned. It is the library’s responsibility to make sure the taxpayer is not cheated by another incompetent “mother” who feels she doesn’t have to abide by the rules every other member of a polite society needs to abide by, which is exactly what they did! Some of you bozo’s don’t have a clue as to why our finances are in such terrible shape. The library does what it does, the police do what they do, these idiot mothers have a responsibility to do what she promised to do when she (she is responsible for her under age kid) borrowed the book out of the library, RETURN IT! It’s really simple if everyone does what they are supposed to do.

They are both city level agencies so the fact a city cop stopped by to give a reminder that they have overdue property owned by the city library isn’t a big deal. She was costing the city money by them having to send her reminders (the cost of the paper, envelope, ink to print, staff to stuff and seal the envelope, and the cost of postage.)

Whether the book was purchased with tax dollars or donated to the library is irrelevant, the book belonged to the city library – in other words all of the tax payers in that city. The bottom line is the mom should be ashamed. The library is there to provide books for the community – not to provide free books to her or her daughter.

The Library could have called the family with a friendly reminder Likely the library had sent several notices which were casually ignored by this overly-self-pampering family. The responsibility for this happening is the mom’s not the police.

The law should be made such that each library notification results in an increasingly greater fine, barring strange events like a death. Boston needs to learn some basic country living skills which offer humanity over the skills of government operatives so favored in liberal areas.

Many libraries (especially colleges) now require a credit card or student ID to bill fines to. Most will fine for late fees and only stop at the maximum value of the book. It seems silly to charge a person 5,000 dollars for six months of unpaid fines then pay a collection agency half for the recovery when someone loses a 25 dollar book. There are still many specialty books that cannot be removed from libraries because they are not easily replaced but if you want to hold an old donated paperback forever why not just buy it outright at the book store and let others enjoy the loaners?

There are so many posts I want to respond to on here, but I’ll just leave it at this. Yes, it’s common sense, that we should all be responsible and teach our kids the same. At the same time common sense should also dictate that the police not be involved in such a trivial matter. They have far more important things to do. Anyone who thinks that family deserved to have the police called on them are complete idiot dbags! Oh, and I hope these same people ALWAYS pay every bill on time, or they are hippocrites as well.

Every other post here seems to make the false assumption that there was some kind of threat of arrest or worse to a 5 year old girl. There is nothing in this report saying anything beyond the officer rang the door bell or knocked and asked for the parent to return the overdue books to the library. The rest is fluff. Why is it wrong for the library to want to follow up on it’s messages when they get no response? What is the budget of your library to collect books with? Mine is nothing at all. Police do many jobs in a small town including checking bicycles for safety, stopping unsafe parking, showing a presence in the community to deter theft of people’s property. Being in the neighborhood is part of being a police officer, and passing on a reminder to someone who has not acknowleged any reminders sent prior to this contact is nothing to be on the news about. There is no mention of threatening looks or intimidation by the officer, although experience shows that some people are intimidated by a uniformed police officer no matter how polite and friendly they are. If nothing else the parent who borrowed these books can no no longer say they “did not receive any notices”.

Fred this is not a police matte, you can say and think as you please but they are paid to monitor traffic, protect and enforce laws. not doing the job od a library its a waste of their time and tax payers money it is up to the library to keep track of their materials not the PD we have a shortage of staff in the legal departments and this is just as stupid as if I were to call and complain about someone who ate my dessert at dinner and they should get here fast and take control of the situation… wake up and get with the real world

Once you put something in the mail – it does not always arrive
the mom was obviously neglectful
the kid was innocent
the sgt. was a dupe
the librarian a joke
the book in question cost less than the fine

This is a disgrace, Why would anybody send the police to do the job of the library staff? its a waste of taxpayers money and police time. all parties including the police who responded should all be ashamed of themselves! After all George Washington borrowed two books from a New York library 220 years ago and still have not returned them! and his cost would be around $300,000 so send those same idiot cops to his descendants and scare them like they did this poor little girl

There is an alternative. It is common practice in some states that hot checks may be displayed by a business at the checkout desk. Posting the name of the card holder in a PROMINENT PLACE where books are checked out must be just the right incentive. That, plus a hold on the card, and a notice that the library has the right to report same to a credit bureau as a defaulted loan.

Nice to see parents shirking responsibility. But, I’m sure this will teach a good lesson to the parents and child involved. The police were not there to act agressively, so this story looks like the parents are telling a sob story to get the focus off of their own mistake. I say, way to go! The library took an action that taught, and I’m sure this little girl will never be late returning books again. (Anyway, shouldn’t it be up to the parents to reassure the girl the police were not there for “Her”) Dang, what a world we live in….

“Teach a lesson to the child involved?”… you do realize it is a 5 yr old? Lesson taught… 1. Fear Police…. 2. Fear Libraries… 3. Reading is bad

Clearly the mother is irresponsible… BUT the books were from the 5yr old’s account. The police show up while the little girl is home asking about the books on the 5yr old’s account. I’m sure she was terrified!

I’m in full agreement of the tactic concerning ADULT accounts, but for children? Come On! That child isn’t going to understand it is her mother’s fault.

Dysfunctional family? I’d vote yes. However, what fault is that to the 5 yr old little girl that is now going to have a fear of libraries, police, and probably books in general?

The article said the police officer said the daughter had two books that were well overdue. They’re (cbs, mother or both) either full of s**t or we’re now issuing library cards to five year olds. Pretty reasonable to assume we’re not issuing library cards to five year olds. Also pretty reasonable to assume the cop didn’t show up to intimidate a five year old. I feel bad for the officer who drew the short straw.

in my town once you sine up for LIbrary card they ask you for your email address phone number so when your late they send you a email or they will call you i dont no if charlton has this.
But i think they never send a cop to a house for 5 year old for over dew books
all they had to do is give the family a call to let them know they are over dew
have good night

But since she was white, I’m surprised they didn’t call in the entire DHS, headed by Janet Imcompetano to physically drag her downtown to face the wrath of Eric Hold ‘Em before she was sentenced to the stoning she surely deserved.

I am not too concerned that the child was traumatized. The officer did not beat her with his baton. However, I am concerned about the very poor use of a fully trained law enforcement officer to collect fines or recover the library books. In our community, private collection agencies are utilized for this purpose by the library system rather than occupying a sworn peace officer with the task. It is an effective way to enforce fines. The officer is not at fault because he goes where he is told to go, but it represents very poor judgment by public officials.

Give me a break, I know a man that stabbed another man numerous times in the stomach and ruined the guys life, he lives with his mother taking care of him and this maniac spent a mere weekend in jail. This country had better get its priorities in place and stop making excuses for the real criminals while they harass the very people that suppor this society.

First off, they did not go and try to get the books from a 5 year old. They went to let the parents know they had over due books and from what it sounds like the parents already knew they did. Its pretty sad when the parents are responsible for the books they check out for their kids and yet they cant even return them but yet try and make it sound like the library and cops are going after the child. Shame on you parents!!! Follow the rules and return the books and pay your overdue fines and you wouldn’t have this problem or better yet stop going to the library.

Only in Boston, the capital of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. This is part of the reason why I moved out of “lefty” New England to move back to the United States of America. I also made it a point to pull off the road just as I crossed the last border out of New England, in order to get out, take off my shoes, and beat them together, in order to “remove the dust from my sandals”. Oh wait, I forgot, a phrase like that is only understood out here in flyover country, where we cling to our Bibles. Good riddance!!

The true, full story that contains the details that WBZ left out…the library was after the $100 audiobook that the father had checked out more than 2 years ago…not the childs book. Wow WBZ…I guess CBS still has no integrity in their reporting style, I thought you guys cleaned up your act after Dan Rathers….you guys are disgusting. Report the WHOLE story!!!!!

First of all, she probably did receive a few notices in the mail about the overdue books. At the very least, a library will send a final overdue notice to the patron in the event of a long overdue book. Eventually these notices in most library systems get sent to collection agencies for the county or city anyway.

If you’re worried about the tax payers and everything, wouldn’t it cost more to have the whole court hearing to get the items back?

If the mother would have returned the books in a timely fashion, this whole ordeal would have been avoided (since as a minor, the ultimate responsibility for returning the books does fall on the parent). The officer wasn’t mean, he wasn’t there to arrest the child, he was informing her that technically, they were housing stolen property and had to return it.

“Parent.” Singular. Demerit one. (If she’s a war widow I’ll pay $50 to a military family-focused charity. Contact raybury at gmail dot com. If she has a believable claim for why Dad’s not around that doesn’t involve poor judgment on her part, I’ll do similarly.)

Having pending fines and overdue books would have prevented Mom from taking Daughter to get more books at the library. Using the library, the books actually borrowed, and owning up and paying a fine (as soon as you are notified) are all good educational experiences lost to Daughter. Demerit two.

The cops didn’t send a fresh rookie, they sent a seasoned officer who likely knows how to deal directly but politely with folks like Mom and gently, if at all, with Daughter – whose tears, like the absence of prior notices, only Mom attests to. Demerit three.

Going to the press rather than owning up to your error? Demerit four. I hope the kid does better than Mom’s actions so far suggest. But someone other than Daughter needs to grow up first.

Clearly the mother is irresponsible… BUT the books were from the 5yr old’s account. The police show up while the little girl is home asking about the books on the 5yr old’s account. I’m sure she was terrified!

I’m in full agreement of the tactic concerning ADULT accounts, but for children? Come On! That child isn’t going to understand it is her mother’s fault.

Dysfunctional family? I’d vote yes. However, what fault is that to the 5 yr old little girl that is now going to have a fear of libraries, police, and probably books in general?

I vote CLASSLESS for the library…

BTW… here are the emails for the library board members…
Elected Trustees of the Charlton Public Library

Don’t convict the sarge of causing the tears only Mom saw. Any adult would have the sense to address the parent (singular) with the matter, and a seasoned cop (notice they didn’t send a rookie – probably out of sensitivity rather than a resource matter) would likely deal quite well with a young child – and would seek to deal with the adult in an appropriate, firm but polite manner. The headline is inflammatory.

Why did she just turn the books in. Severl months overdue, she is setting a poor example for her daughter. Sometimes ridiculous behavior such as her renders extreme measures. I don’t think the police nor the library did anything wrong

Sending the police to collect the books specifically from the 5-year old may have been extreme but lessons need to be learned and the books were months overdue.
– Library may have a junior program of sorts in which the card could have been in the child’s name (parent also listed of course)
– Not one person has made mention of the fact of the possibility people/other children could be waiting for these book(s) so they could enjoy them (my library has a waiting list on some select books at times)
– Although late in this case but in future, mother should make a production to child when returning overdue library books of consequences involved (paying the nominal fine) to help instill proper habits later

Seriously Mom? You are a sad, pathetic example of parenting. The books were well overdue; this is the example you are setting? And then poo pooing the child and blaming the police and the library? If I were the library, your family would be banned. Time for momma to grow up!

I for one am sick and tired of these law breakers who think they can steal from the library and get away with it..

Both mother and daughter should have been imprisoned as an example to other criminals who think they can do anything they want.

It’s people like this who should be publically horse-whipped so others can see what happens to criminals and then we would have less crime. In my former country they would have had their hands cut off and believe me that is too light of a sentence for these two.

These are great people and parents, to the ones that posted otherwise are senseless jerks. I feel sorry for the people on here that are so unintelligent that they seem to think this completly extreme measure to collect a over due library book is any where near ok. A comment I found ridiculous on here was the one posted by Abby Brown-Kenwick this comment was so frustrating and appalling to read. According to this writer every parent that owes a bill should be investigated by the state because they are bad parents, this is such a crazy ridiculous statement. it’s people that think like this writer who cause these kind of problems for nice families like this one. I personally have accidentally kept my childs library books past the due date and have actually lost a few in the past, so I guess I’m also a bad parent and should be further investigated by the state LOL. I know these parents did not deliberatly keep this library book past the due date because their bad parents that wanted to steal a book. This is one of those things busy parents forget to do as it is only a book and not one of a parents first important prioritiies to try to remember in this busy age of life.

Give me a break that she was scared. I bet the cop was NOT forceful. Especially since nobody wanted to do it. The bottom line is FOLLOW THE RULES! They acted like it was their book or something. If people wouldn’t return books, how full would the libraries be? There has to be some consequence if the books aren’t returned. What are people supposed to do/ Apparently they ignored the notices.

Apparently, the Town of Charlton has a problem with library books being overdue for return. The aggregate value of all of the overdue books is approximately $4,000. However, the statute was designed to penalize adults who hoard books. The statute was not designed to punish five-year-olds. Even if the lending account was in the name of one of the parents, the library staff should have inferred from the book titles that a child had borrowed the two books in question.

Charlton is not a sprawling metropolis. Instead of involving the police, the chief librarian either should have sent a volunteer to knock on the front door or should have contacted a collection agency. What bureaucratic nonsense!

This mother can’t even set a good example for her daughter on a little thing. I wonder how she’s going to set good examples on the big things in life. How many other bills she has not been paying on time? What is she going to say to the little girl if one day the bank shows up to take the house away because the mortgages has not been paid for months? I can’t think of anyone else can be this low to use a five-year-old to gain sympathy for her own misbehavior. What kind of mother is this?

First of all, it’s absolutely disgusting, that some of you leave hate laden words that I’ve just read. NO ONE will ever know, if the library actually sent out late notices, or attempted to contact the household. And if so, no one will know if the household actually received the notices. That will be argued forever. None of us readers know if that parent was actually with the child when the books were checked out. So to say that she’s setting a bad example is null and void. WE DON’T have the facts. Yes, many books are paid for by the tax payers as a whole, but many books are personally donated, as well as personal financial contributions. To send a police officer out every time a book becomes long overdue is completely outrageous. This wasn’t the first time, and this won’t be the last that a book becomes this overdue. There are better ways to utilize the police force. Even the cop sent, didn’t want to do it, since it was above and beyond NOT a necessary task. If it was that serious, a filing in small claims court would have sufficed.

What I find most interesting is that this 5 year old has already been trained to feel this level of fear in response to authority…Thanks mom and dad. Good job. Five years old and already all the makings of a just another sheep.

Let’s get another thing straight here as well; the visit was not primarily about the child’s books. See a child of her age cannot get her own library card; it must be attached to an adult card holder. This makes the responsible party the parents. Key there is “responsible”. Next there is the little bit that Mrs. Benoit failed to mention for the 15 min of fame she claimed, there was an outstanding amount of approx. 130 USD on the account, the husband had an overdue audiobook out for more than 2 years, this and the repeated attempts at contact are what prompted the request. Oh and by the way this has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative it has to do with being personally responsible for your actions. This is something Mrs. Benoit was not, in particular when she intentionally left pertinent facts out of her not so news worthy moment.

Wow. What kind of message does this send to people who habitually keep checked out books beyond the apporpriate time? That the little girl should have ripped the magnetic tag out of the books put them inside her coat, under her arm and walked out with HER new books?
I am just saying that the more intense the consequences are for “minor things” the more extreme become people’s reactions to them.

But can’t you just imagine the librarian’s call to the police?
“This little criminal has had our ONLY copies of “The little engine that could” and “Where the wild things are” for way too long! I do not believe the little future fugitive has any intention of EVER returning them!
Go get her officer F**knut!

Journalism at it’s worse.
HEY CBS how about reporting the entire story for a change you losers.Mr Benoit or whom ever the male in that (dysfunctional) family is was the individual who was responsible for the police visit. His failure to return a audio book was the main reason that the family owed over $100 in fines.
For those interested you can get the real story here:http://www.telegram.com/article/20120103/NEWS/120109907/1116

This is like the cartoon you see about librarians who will track you down to collect
a fine or an overdue book. Sending the police to a persons house is beyond
ridiculousness and a total wast of police resources. I would slap the Liberian who did this upside the head and tell them to wake up. Did they take all steps necessary by sending a simple letter to the parents of the child first?

They send letters called them and emailed them if they had to do something either way tax dollars would of been spent andways even if they went to court for it. It was mostly the fathers fines that were on the little girls card the parents r irresponsible for there actions.

Why in God’s name didn’t the library call the Benoits or send a notice in the mail? Since when is it the police’s job to do that?

Too much damn govt. intervention in everybody’s life. The policeman who said he was picked because he guessed he was the low man on the totem pole, should have told them go find somebody else to do your dirty work. He’s a cop out (pun intended).

They did get notices, they got phone calls the got emails and even sent letters they dont want to b responsible for there actions. the father said he went there every other wk, well 1st of all if he was checkin a book out he wouldnt b able to cuz he had a fine over $10 where ur not allowed to check anything else out until its under $10.

This could be considered an object lesson for the 5 year old, but it goes way beyond reason in this modern. The ignorance of all those involved and many of these bloggers is stunning, especially those who support the Police. Just wait until the erection of the entire Police State has been completed by the current Politicians.

I didn’t read through all the comments, but did anyone bring up the possibility that they moved/had to change phone numbers and forgot to update their library account information? That’s what happened to me when I moved. I had books I forgot to return that I never got notices about because I had a new address.

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